There are so many problems (putting it mildly) for tackling this now: the political climate around policing, because of pre-existing problems with brutality and militarization (and, if nothing else, on this last, they're going to spend taxpayer money on toys like this? now? North Dakotans should demand the cost/benefit analysis...); difficulty of firing on an intended target from a mobile platform, especially if there's lag in the signal (any guesses how the public will respond when police accidentally fire--even "non-lethals"!--on bystanders?); little to no law around drone use, for public or private entities; mistrust and dread of drones (highly warranted; see above); relative ease of hacking drones (hey, police, you want to use those fancy, armed drones? better be ready to defend them from hackers willing to turn them on you, or just cause mayhem and throw egg on your face). North Dakota's not NYC or Chicago, so maybe they'll get away with it and provide a very favorable test case , but society-at-large is nowhere close to ready to dealing with this.