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Senate bill proposes joint oversight committee to study drone and other emerging threats to public safety
Summary
Senate Bill 26 would create a Joint Law Enforcement Oversight Committee and fund a one‑year investigative task force to assess law enforcement training and readiness for threats from UAVs, autonomous/remote vehicles, and underwater drones; sponsors sought first‑hearing consideration and no vote was taken.
Senator Johnson presented sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 26, which would create a Joint Law Enforcement Oversight Committee (JLEOC) charged with studying modern technological threats to law enforcement and producing a report to guide future legislation.
"Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs ... remote controlled cars ... remote surveillance, underwater drones ... are becoming much more accessible and cheaper even for the average consumer," Johnson said. He described these devices as a "critical security threat to high population density areas" and called the issue "the greatest danger faced by law enforcement in our time."
Under the bill as described in testimony, the JLEOC would mirror other joint legislative oversight bodies with membership drawn from both chambers (three members from each chamber, two majority and one minority per chamber), and would receive a one‑year appropriation from the GRF to staff an investigative task force. The task force would spend a year assessing training standards, resilience, readiness and preparedness and then produce a report from which potential legislation could be developed.
Senators asked no questions during the first hearing and the committee closed the item without a vote. Sponsors said the proposal is intended as a first step in a longer legislative process.
