About
Drones are used by police departments around the country for various public safety missions, including locating missing people, providing aerial views during crisis incidents, searching for suspects avoiding apprehension, taking photos of collision and crime scenes, and assisting in other public safety efforts within a defined perimeter.
Drone FAQs
The HCPD follows public guidelines from the ACLU to ensure the community can benefit from drone technology without privacy concerns.
- Drones MAY NOT be used for mass surveillance that could violate First Amendment-protected activities.
- Drones MAY be used:
- when there is an emergency situation in a defined area in which individuals’ lives and safety are at risk, such as crisis situations, missing persons, fires or other potentially dangerous scenarios; or
- when there are specific and articulable grounds to believe that the drone will collect evidence relating to criminal activity; or
- when there is a signed search warrant issued by a judge for constitutionally-protected activities.
Law enforcement agencies are required to obtain a search warrant when using drones for any constitutionally-protected areas under Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable search and seizure.
Images are not retained unless there is reasonable suspicion that they contain evidence of criminal activity or are relevant to an ongoing investigation or pending criminal trial. Images that do not possess any evidentiary value will be deleted.
Drones will be operated by officers who will stay in their current assignments and respond to incidents when a drone is needed. They have been trained and are certified remote pilots, as required by the FAA. This is commonly referred to as a “Part 107” certification (Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 107).
Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program FAQ
The DFR program deploys pre-positioned, automated drones from rooftop docks to arrive at 911 and police calls in minutes or even seconds.
The drones can launch immediately and reach incidents in minutes or even seconds, bypassing traffic and physical road barriers and significantly speeding up police response. This allows limited, trained personnel to assess situations prior to the arrival of patrol units.
The drones will livestream video to the HCPD’s Real Time Information Center, giving responding patrol officers the advantage of having aerial intelligence to prepare them for what they might encounter at the scene. This helps officers assess hazards, spot weapons, locate suspects, and track missing children or vulnerable adults.
- Emergency calls: A drone takes off only in response to a designated active 911 call or if an officer specifically asks for drone assistance.
- Help at the scene: Once overhead, the drone sends back the live video, heat-sensing imagery, and a view from above. This helps officers on the ground find their way and creates more situational awareness to keep situations as calm as possible from the outset.
- DFRs do NOT patrol or monitor the public: Drones are not sent out to cruise neighborhoods, and they are not used to keep watch over the general public.
- DFRs do NOT identify faces or record sound: The DFR drones have no facial recognition and no microphones, so they cannot capture audio.
- DFRs are NOT used for mass surveillance: Like the standard HCPD Drone Program, implemented in early 2020, DFR drones do not engage in any actions that could violate First Amendment-protected activities.
Any video captured by a drone is recorded in a log and kept under the same strict rules for access and retention that cover body worn camera video.
Docking stations are located on various police, fire and county facilities. These locations were selected after an analysis of calls for police service and geographic overlap.
- HCPD Northern District, Courthouse Dr., Ellicott City
- HCPD Community Outreach, Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia
- HCDFRS Station 9, Tamar Dr., Columbia
- HCDFRS Station 12, Port Capital Dr., Jessup
- North Laurel Community Center, Whiskey Bottom Rd., Laurel
- Recreation and Parks Building, Oakland Mills Rd., Columbia
- Elkridge Senior Center, Washington Blvd., Elkridge
No, DFR is part of an agreement with our current vendor, Axon, for bundled services, including body worn cameras, digital evidence management, license plate readers, Tasers, and more.