The thin blue line meets the big blue sky: perceptions of police legitimacy and public attitudes towards aerial drones

Police departments across the United States are now integrating new visual monitoring technology (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs or ‘drones’], body cameras) into routine police practices. Despite their potential use in multiple areas of proactive and reactive policing, public attitudes toward police use of UAVs, and visual monitoring technology overall, is mixed. As an extension of previous research, the current study uses a national survey to assess how well individuals’ perceptions about police legitimacy, effectiveness, and other criminal justice attitudes predict the level of public receptivity and opposition toward police UAV use in various contexts. The implications of these findings for public policy and law enforcement practices are discussed.     

Putting together the pieces: recent proposals to fill in the genetic testing regulatory puzzle

The idea that genetic information is different from other medical information and therefore needs special protection has led to a regulatory puzzle where genetic testing is currently regulated under three separate schemes. Although genetic tests for over 2,000 diseases are available, less than 10% of these tests have been reviewed for clinical validity or utility. Recent action by some genetic testing companies has prompted the federal government to propose changes to the current regulatory scheme. This article discusses the current framework and the recent developments before examining some of the concerns and challenges that face the implementation of these proposed changes. The author evaluates the proposals and competing interests in order to suggest how genetic testing may best be regulated to meet the needs of the industry, clinicians, researchers, patients, and consumers.