Durham police rolling out drone pilot project
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — Cops east of the city will soon have an all-new eye in the sky.
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Durham Regional Police are gearing up to launch a new program using remotely-piloted drones to augment responses for certain calls, but they are getting ahead of the impending criticism with assurances the high-flying devices won’t be used for surveillance.
“Video data is captured only when necessary for emergency response,” police said in a statement, adding access to data collected by their Drone First Responder pilot project (DFR) will be restricted, logged, and auditable.
“All data handling follows privacy law, internal policy, and the approved Privacy Impact Assessment.”
Public transparency paramount, Durham police say
As well, police say the drones will not use any automated recognition technology — facial or otherwise — and will only be dispatched for certain calls.
“Public transparency is a core element of the project,” Durham police said in a statement.
“DRPS will release public-facing materials — including previously collected video footage — to help the community understand how the system works and how privacy is protected. Presentation-style information sessions will also support community engagement.”
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The drones, police say, will only be launched in response to 911 emergency calls that fit a particular profile, such as missing persons, high-risk calls or those to which the risk levels for officers is unknown, large or complex scenes, natural disasters, situations where first responders may face an increased risk, and major incidents that require rapid situational awareness.
Drones can be dispatched to many scenes within 60 seconds, police said.
Police planned to host an information session Thursday evening to answer questions and demonstrate the program, set to take place at the Education and Training Centre at 1400 Victoria St. E, Unit 5, in Whitby.
The event was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
“By providing real-time overhead views, the pilot strengthens responder preparedness and may reduce risk for both officers and the public,” police said.
Drones common kit for Canadian police
Canadian police departments using drones is nothing new — most major services across North America use the radio controlled aircraft for various purposes, including search and rescue missions, collision reconstruction and evidence collection.
Peel Regional Police announced their own first responder drone program last summer, making them one of the first police services in Canada to dispatch drones to some calls.
Toronto police have been using drones for various purposes since at least 2020.