Council’s ICE Vote and Drone Proposal Spark Debate on Policy vs. Politics
By-Hank Stolz
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WORCESTER, MA– Tom Marino, and Mark Henderson, the016.com, analyze the council’s eight-to-two vote to bar police from entering a task force agreement with ICE, debating whether the move was a genuinely preemptive policy decision or performative election-year politics. They also looked at a new proposal to use drones as “first responders” to assess 911 calls, raising concerns about privacy, potential for abuse, high costs, and a “dystopian” future for policing. Marino argued that the city’s experience with the expensive ShotSpotter system should inform its approach to new technologies like drones, emphasizing the need for independent data and accountability.
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