Unmanned Aerial Systems Implementation
Expand the Effectiveness of Your Police
Law Enforcement Aerial Assets (known to most people as helicopters) are expensive. Expensive to buy, store, maintain, and staff. How then does a local government, trying to expand and improve the ability of their police force to respond to emergencies, accomplish that goal?
Drones.
Yes, Unmanned Aerial Systems, UAS or drones, are expanding into law enforcement. Communities from California to Georgia are beginning to understand the importance, cost savings, and staffing multiplier that UAS provide to law enforcement.
A 911 call is made to dispatch to report a suspicious person. The local agency launches a drone and investigates the scene. If the operators (who are themselves sworn officers) do not observe criminal behavior, then there is no police encounter, no escalating of citizen response, and no adverse outcomes. On the other hand, if the pilots observe something untoward, the drone provides real time intelligence and situation awareness to responding officers.
Our firm has worked with local agencies to develop best practices and model policies for the deployment of drone systems for use by law enforcement. Balancing the narrow space between citizen privacy and reasonable law enforcement, we can assist you community in establishing a program that complies with Federal law, assists law enforcement and prosecutors in catching bad guys, and respects the rights of citizens to privacy in their own spaces.
Chris’ innovative ideas and creative problem-solving has assisted our police department through many endeavors.
Chris recognized the many legal and ethical challenges that would be met during the recent startup of our Drone First Responder Program. Through his leadership and foresight, engagements were made with our community members and district attorney’s office. Fourth amendment and privacy concerns were addressed along with many other challenges during these conversations led by Chris. This dialogue resulted in the development of our standard operating procedures for the program.