Arabic version: مدارس أمريكية تخطط لبرامج طائرات مسيّرة ترش رذاذ الفلفل

According to The Guardian, several US schools are preparing to install pepper-spraying drones intended to respond to school shooting attacks. Austin, Texas-based Campus Guardian Angel is supplying the technology to multiple schools, including at least four in Georgia, three in Florida and one in Colorado.

The company says its drones launch after an alert and after its response team confirms a threat is credible. They can be operated from thousands of miles away and include an embedded speakerphone for two-way communication with a threat, teachers, staff and law enforcement. Campus Guardian Angel says the aircraft can stay airborne for about eight minutes per battery charge, use 900 MHz, and can fly through windows not coated with ballistic film by using a front lance.

The drones are equipped with sirens, air poppers that produce a loud bang, and a pepper launcher that can fire pepper balls at a shooter. The company says they may also deliver kinetic energy strikes against a confirmed attacker. Its stated goal is to deploy three or four drones in waves to keep a shooter occupied until authorized responders can apprehend them. The concept was inspired by the reported effectiveness of small drones in Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Georgia’s pilot schools include Coffee County High School, Gainesville High School, River Ridge High School and Statesboro High School, with the state legislature allocating $550,000 for the program. Deltona High School in Florida plans to install 39 drones for the upcoming school year, while Amos P Godby High School and Boyd H Anderson High School are also expected to launch the program. John Adams Academy in Douglas County, Colorado, is preparing to introduce the technology.

Critics question whether the approach places too much emphasis on reaction rather than prevention. Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was among 17 people killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, said the drones appear only when needed and argued that prevention should be the priority. Washington Post data published in September showed that more than 398,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since the 1999 Columbine shooting in Colorado.