For years, large metropolitan police departments deployed police officers in helicopters to act as the department's eyes in the sky. These are multimillion-dollar programs, and each aircraft costs upwards of a million dollars and requires highly trained pilots and flight crews. Maintenance and fuel costs alone can cost up to four hundred dollars per hour of flight time. As a result, smaller police departments are now exploring the capabilities of integrating specialized police drone programs as a less expensive set of virtual eyes in the sky.

Several images potentially come to mind when one speaks of drones. Many think of them as the cute little helicopter toys they bought their children to fly around the house. Others imagine a military drone, which is a multi-million dollar aircraft that can stay aloft for days, scanning the landscape for enemy combatants. These drones can launch deadly hellfire missiles with pinpoint accuracy.

Drones used in police work resemble neither of these, but they do incorporate important technology both from commercial and military drones. Some drones being tested in police departments are small, yet carry zoom lens video cameras that transmit real-time aerial views of events to the drone pilot. Others use thermal imaging for low light deployments. The use and capabilities of drones marks an important step in propelling police departments into the future, allowing officers to use revolutionary technology to fight crime in new ways.

Current Applications

Drones are already at work in many aspects of law enforcement and are changing the way officers think about other aspects. Here are some of the ways drones are affecting the day to day responsibilities of modern police officers.

Foot Chases

Drones are great for following suspects during foot chases. Many chases go through alleyways, over fences and through backyards. Chasing a suspect on foot from the ground is difficult and potentially dangerous. At any point, a suspect might take up an offensive position and wait to ambush or attack a pursuing officer. With a drone streaming live video to a command center, the drone pilot can radio the suspect's movements in real time.

Imagine, for instance, being on a foot chase and losing sight of a suspect. Suddenly, the drone pilot says, “Go to the end of the alley and turn right, then go over the fence; the suspect is hiding in the back yard behind a red vehicle.” The pursuing officer can then slow their approach, allowing other units to cover each side of the perimeter before apprehension. Drones allow foot chases to become much safer for police officers.

Seeing in the Dark

At night, officers chasing a suspect on foot can use a thermal imaging camera and easily follow their target into dark areas. Usually, runners tire out and stop, finding what they think is a great hiding place — perhaps lying flat, concealed in shrubbery or tall grass. With the drone's thermal imaging, police can easily see the suspect in their hiding spot and quickly apprehend them.

Suspects running from law enforcement typically have no idea that they are being followed and recorded by a drone, because the drone is hundreds of feet in the air. They won't see it or hear it, but it's recording them, and all the video images can be used later in court proceedings.

Officer Safety

Police can send a drone to a potentially dangerous crime in progress to assess the scene and let officers know, in advance, what they're walking into. A shots-fired call may still be in progress when the drone arrives. The live streaming video lets officers know who is armed before they arrive, whether or not anyone is injured and the shooter's location.

On top of that, unknown 911 calls can be viewed from a drone to see the type of problem and identify potential threats, protecting police officers against a possible ambush.

Crime Scenes

Drones can be used to map and record crime scenes and even identify additional evidence. Scanning a crime scene from an elevated position allows officers to check surrounding rooftops for evidence and to view high definition mapping of the location that can be reviewed later during the investigation.

Active Shooters and Hostage Situations

Drones can gather useful intelligence in real time during a shooting incident or standoff. For instance, officers can use drones from the outside of a building to look through windows and identify a shooter's location, type of weapons and even if explosives are present. Some drones can fly directly into buildings, clearing hallways in front of a police response.

In one case, a man holding a grenade and threatening hostages was photographed by a drone in sufficient detail to identify that the grenade was not real. For more important information on handling these dangerous situations, be sure to read our guide on how to respond to an active shooter.

Traffic Accidents

Traffic crashes, industrial accidents, boating accidents and even airplane crashes can all be documented in detail by aerial mapping of the scene. The collection of detailed mapping greatly helps investigators reconstruct the events and determine the accident's cause. Crash scenes change as people and vehicles leave the scene and roadways are cleared. It's essential to document the scene as soon as possible after the event so minimal changes have occurred.

Many congested highways have stationary cameras for traffic monitoring; however, these only cover a fraction of the nation's busiest roadways. Trying to identify the cause of a six or seven mile highway backup can be a challenge, let alone merely getting to the scene to assess the situation. Drones don't have to worry about traffic backups and can fly directly to the location and stream video of a crash scene long before the first officer arrives. Knowing the extent of the vehicles involved and the crash's seriousness allows departments to dispatch ambulances and fire department personnel without delay. Take a look at our officer's guide to managing the scene of a car accident to prepare for vehicle collision assignments.

Search and Rescue

A drone is a significant force multiplier when searching and rescuing in forests and rocky terrain. It can fly over treetops and up steep embankments with ease. Using thermal imaging, the drone can locate a lost hiker or a child who wandered off. A single drone with thermal imaging can be much more effective than a squad of searchers trying to cover rough terrain on the ground.

Crowd Control

Many events draw thousands of people closely packed into an area; an outdoor concert, a protest or even spring break at the beach are just a few examples. The sightline of personnel on the ground is extremely limited in the event of trouble.

Drones, however, can quickly identify when problems occur and when emergency assistance is required. Some emergencies are medical emergencies, while others may need a police response to, for example, break up a fight, or control a crowd during a riot. Having eyes in the sky allows for a quicker emergency response, which keeps people in the crowd safer.

Fires and Natural Disasters

Along with the myriad of other capabilities, drones can also provide critical intelligence at fire scenes. During a massive structure fire, they offer a bird's-eye view of the extent and path of a working fire scene, allowing firefighters to make better choices in fighting the blaze. Thermal imaging cameras can also quickly identify the location of victims. In one case, a drone's aerial view quickly identified a hotspot within a fire. Firefighters addressed it quickly, significantly hindering the fire's progress.

Like fires, natural disasters are huge forces that put many lives in danger. Once a hurricane or tornado strikes, it is vital to identify survivors and areas that need immediate help. When roads are flooded or blocked by debris, drones can survey disaster areas and identify victims who need help or rescue. Drones were successfully used in both Hurricane Irma in Florida and Hurricane Harvey in Huston to assist victims in dire need.

Three Problems with Drones

Despite the seemingly endless ways in which police may use drones to keep the public safe and even save lives, drones are not without their drawbacks. As with any other new source of technology or changes in methodology, departments and policy makers must weigh the pros and cons to ensure safety without violating citizens' rights or creating unnecessary danger.

Drone Flight Time is Limited

Perhaps the most significant problem, especially with smaller, commercially available drones, is their flight time. While a military attack or reconnaissance drone can stay in the air for days, the battery-operated drones that many police departments are considering have a flight time of just thirty minutes. After that, they either need a battery pack change or time at a recharging station.

To combat this issue, some departments are considering the idea of nesting. Nesting is where many drones are housed all around an urban area for use as needed. After completing its assignment, each drone would return to its weather-protected nest to recharge. A patent was issued to create nesting stations on top of street lights; however, since the technology is limited and the scope is so vast, the idea of nesting multiple drones may be something for the future. Today, drones are sent on specific, planned missions (such as mapping a crash scene or conducting a search and rescue mission) and are not used on routine patrol.

FAA Rules

The Federal Aviation Administration has a lot of rules regarding how and where a drone may fly. These rules apply to drones that weigh fifty-five pounds or less. From a liability standpoint, police drone operators have to be FAA certified drone pilots. Here are a few general rules the FAA would have to amend or waive for a police department drone program to be successful:

• Drone flights are limited to an elevation of not more than four hundred feet.
• Drones may not be flown over groups of people or large gatherings.
• Drones may only be flown in the daytime.
• Drone pilots must have a clear line of sight to their drone without the use of mechanical aid.

While these rules are intended for hobbyists and commercial drone pilots, they essentially make a police drone program impossible. Police would likely need to fly higher than four hundred feet, fly over large groups or fly at night to fight crime effectively with drones. The FAA would need to grant waivers to police departments operating a drone program in order for that program to be sustainable.

Privacy

With drones, the government can essentially spy on people from the sky. This is the biggest fear among individuals who are afraid that the government, represented by police departments, may invade people's privacy during undetectable flybys at high altitudes.

Current case law allows for police to fly over private property and make observations identifying criminal activity. In the United States Supreme Court decision Florida vs. Riley, the court held that police officials do not need a warrant to observe an individual's property from public airspace. However, as technology advances, many are concerned that departments may use drones fitted with thermal imaging and facial recognition capabilities to violate citizens' privacy rights. As with most other fast-moving technology, the lawmakers and courts will have to decide both what is legal and what is in the best interest of society.

The Future

Drones are becoming popular and continue to evolve. They are a tool that can provide a quicker, safer police response by collecting and sharing crucial, real-time intelligence and by documenting evidence at crime scenes as the crime occurs. Drone manufacturers are starting to build products that address the growing law enforcement market. Ideally, these manufacturers will combine the best features of military and commercial drones for future law enforcement drones. Complex drones are already in use to patrol and protect our borders and can assist with many other important tasks by other federal agencies.

Future drones may no longer be limited in use to a single, planned event, such as a search and rescue mission. Instead, future police drones may routinely patrol the streets from the sky for hours. Police drone pilots will be able to fly them from a command center, and they will be fully integrated with officers on the ground. They will not only respond to calls for assistance, but will also scan and identify crimes in progress. Having these eyes in the sky is a significant step forward for the future of policing in America.