Public Safety and Law Enforcement Toolkit

 

This toolkit is designed to assist law enforcement and public safety entities in operating and handling situations involving drones or UAS.

• Download and print our Law Enforcement Pocket Card (PDF)
• Download our Drones in Public Safety: A Guide to Starting Operations (PDF)
• State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PDF)
• Letter to COA Holders – Statutory Requirement to Register UAS
  (November 5, 2014) (PDF)
• First Responder Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight (TBVLOS) 91.113 Waiver Guide (PDF)

Webinar: Drone Safety: It's the Law
The use of drones in our nation's airspace is rapidly increasing, which raises both opportunities and challenges for public safety and government officials. Learn more about how your authority allows you to take action and respond to unauthorized or unsafe drone operations. Watch the webinar.

Advisory Circular (AC) 00-1.1B
Government or government-contracted aircraft operations must obtain COA from the FAA prior to operations.
Advisory Circular 00-1.1B, Public Aircraft Operations

Small UAS Rule Part 107
This rule contains safety regulations for drones weighing less than 55 pounds.
Summary of the Part 107 Rule (PDF)
Fly under the Small UAS Rule
Advisory Circular 107-2 (PDF)

The Exception for Recreational Flyers
People who fly their drone, UAS, or model aircraft for fun are considered recreational flyers.
Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based Organizations
Authorization for limited recreational operations as described in section 44809 (PDF)
Advisory Circular 91-57B – Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft

Mobile Apps
The FAA's B4UFly App assists users in determining where they can and can't fly. Law enforcement and public safety agencies can use it to determine where they can operate drones or whether drone operations are authorized in a specific location or not.

Public Safety Small Drone Playbook

Drones are being safely integrated into our national airspace for recreational, commercial, and public safety uses. However, unauthorized operations can cause potential hazards to people and property both in the air and on the ground. Our Public Safety Small Drone Playbook is intended to be used as an informational resource for public safety officials conducting investigations regarding drones. The Playbook can assist in determining the difference between authorized and non-authorized drone operations and what potential actions public safety might take.

• Drone Response Playbook for Public Safety (PDF)
• Supplement to the Drone Response Playbook for Public Safety

Overcoming the Challenges of Starting a Public Safety Drone Program

Lynwood Fire Department Shows the Value of Drones for Small to Mid-Sized Agencies

DJI Enterprise April 4, 2020  

In the fall of 2017, in Peru, Illinois, an armed suspect has barricaded himself inside a suburban home after firing at police officers. The apparent suspect’s emotional instability, the fact that the suspect was former military with explosives experience and the threat he made of placing IEDs around the house are making the situation worse. Well over 150 public safety personnel surround the house. Fortunately for the tactical teams and emergency response crew, the suspect is willing to negotiate.

Calling for Help

As the day wore on, the incident commander knew that the coming night would only complicate the situation. He asked his team what options they had. Chief Ed Rogers, of the Utica Fire Department, immediately thought of the Lynwood Fire Department and their UAS operations program. Thermal imaging paired with a clear aerial view of the house would provide acute situational awareness in case the suspect made a run for it. 

After receiving the call, Keenan Newton, Lieutenant and UAS coordinator of the Lynwood FD, arrived on site before dusk. As he and his team began unloading their equipment, the suspect told the negotiator that his phone was low on battery. Negotiators knew they had to keep talking with the suspect to help ensure a peaceful outcome. It was a tense moment. Everyone anticipated the situation intensifying unless the suspect was provided a new phone. Something had to be done.

The first attempt to deliver a phone with a law enforcement robot failed. As it had a technical failure. The incident commander looked at Chief Rogers and asked if the phone could be delivered with a drone. “Of course we can, we’re firemen,” Chief Rogers responded.

Keenan got to work immediately. Utilizing a drop release system, a remote-controlled drop mechanism used for deliveries, on a DJI M600 Pro drone, he would attempt to swing the phone into the suspect’s bathroom window. Two Inspire 1 drones were flown nearby to help spot and guide the drop, as well as record the delivery. The cell phone was tied to a rope, and within minutes the drone was hovering over the house. Approaching carefully, Keenan successfully positioned the cell phone just outside of a window and swung it towards the bathroom window until the suspect grabbed it. 

Read more

Daytona Beach Police Using Drones To Enforce Coronavirus Closures

ClickOrlando.com April 7, 2020

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Daytona Beach Police Department is now equipped with two more drones to add to its six, but the loaner drones police are using to enforce closures and other social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic are equipped with intercoms.

Drone company DJI loaned the drones to the department through a disaster relief program. Police said the flying pieces of equipment will help them disperse crowds and keep people out of all city parks, which are temporarily closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We’re reducing the officer having to go out there, walk into the park property, walking into a crowd of people, share those germs back and forth just to deliver a message that, 'The park’s closed. Don’t be in here,’” said Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer, who heads the department’s Unmanned Aviation Systems Unit.

The department showed drone footage from one of its 30 missions over the last week. The video shows people leaving parks throughout the city and Ehrenkaufer said people fully complied. Police also demonstrated their own $27,000 drone that’s equipped with a drop hook feature that officers use in situations similar to when a beachside bomb threat was reported last year. Ehrenkaufer said it’s also helpful to drop off lifesaving materials.

“That could be anything from the life preserver that you’ve seen us drop into the lake, to somebody drowning, to a box of gloves, medication,” he said.

That same drone also has a FLIR cam that can read a person’s body temperature. Police said they will be discussing if it should be installed in their front lobby to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.

“Let’s say if you have a 103 fever, that will come in handy with letting us know from at a glance, are you somebody who possibly has the virus?" Ehrenkaufer said. "Do we need to make sure you have extra precautions and make sure that you have the extra equipment that you need?”

The department hopes the two loaner drones will officially be theirs in the future because it could possibly be another protective layer for an officer's safety.

“I think in terms of keeping officers safe, I think it’s very important,” Ehrenkaufer said.

UAV Deployments in Disaster Relief Webinar

Best practices for deploying UAVs in disaster relief scenarios, including the COVID-19 response

Attend this webinar to learn how public safety agencies have been assessing new relief measure that integrate drones into their workflows during a crisis.

When; 11 AM PDT, Wednesday, April 15, 2020

How are drones impacting disaster relief efforts by public safety agencies across North America and the globe? Find out from DJI’s public safety experts on how this technology is currently being used, what methods have been tested in the field throughout the United States, and what this could mean for efforts in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Romeo Durscher, Senior Director of Public Safety Integration at DJI, and Wayne Baker, Director of Public Safety Integration at DJI, will be discussing how agencies have been assessing new relief measures that integrate drones into their workflows during a crisis.

Here’s what to expect:

·         Applications of drone technology by public safety agencies in previous disaster relief efforts

·         A view of how nations across the world are using drone technology amidst the pandemic

·         A review of the use cases that have been implemented in North America so far and which ones are proving to be effective

·         Looking ahead to how this could impact future disaster responses

·         Open Q&A period

→Register for the Webinar

Request Emergency GIS Help From The ESRI Disaster Response Program for COVID-19

To help public health agencies and other organizations jump-start their response to COVID-19, Esri is providing the ArcGIS Hub Coronavirus Response template at no cost through a complimentary six-month subscription of ArcGIS Online with ArcGIS Hub Basic. ArcGIS Hub is a framework to build your own website to visualize and analyze the COVID-19 crisis in the context of your organization's or community's population and assets.

Request access to ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Hub Basic by completing the form.

How GIS is Used in All Phases of Emergency Management

While EMMU Aerial specializes in drones for public safety and emergency response, our initial background came from years supporting emergency operations with geographical information systems (GIS).  

GIS Lounge February 20, 2020
In this article from the GIS Lounge, Brian Sekita discusses how GIS is vital to all phases of the emergency management process.

Natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions have impacted the globe since the beginning of time. Technological improvements have exponentially improved the global community’s ability to respond to the challenges presented by unexpected disasters. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Incorporating GIS into the disaster response framework has improved planning, response times, collaboration, and communication during the most challenging dynamic circumstances. Large scale disasters require extensive amounts of geospatial information regarding regions affected, infrastructure, and resource requirements. Developments in GIS have provided agencies with the ability to collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Emergency managers resolve natural disaster challenges using the Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) approach. CEM is broken down into four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery (Agency, 1995). 

Mitigation

Mitigation strategies prior to natural disasters are essential to reduce loss of life and property by reducing the impact on populations both within the U.S. and abroad. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), continuously works with local governments, states, and tribes regarding hazard mitigation plans with short- and long-term focus. These efforts have the overall intent of increasing education and awareness, building partnerships for risk reduction, aligning risk reduction objectives, prioritization of efforts, and to communicate priorities (FEMA, 2020). Flood hazard mapping updates are part of the Risk Map program. This program identifies flood hazards, assesses flood risks, and provides accurate data to stakeholders and partners. These maps are dynamic and can be updated as terrain and environmental conditions change. FEMA shares this data in publicly accessible overlays powered by ArcGIS. In addition to flood mapping, overall mitigation strategies are tracked using the same technology, with 87 percent of the population currently residing in areas with approved mitigation plans (FEMA, 2020).

Preparedness

Emergency preparedness is the actions taken in advance that develop operational capabilities, enabling a more efficient, effective response to an emergency. One successful use of GIS during natural disaster preparedness is the overland surge from hurricanes also known as the “SLOSH” model, used by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  (NOAA, 2020). SLOSH models use current wind speed, distance, and direction in combination with precipitation predictions and topography to determine possible locations at risk of flooding during a storm. These efforts are critical to evacuation planning, leading to more effective communication and decision making at all levels. NOAA provides interactive open source National Storm Surge Hazard Maps for the US, Puerto Rico / Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Hispaniola.

 Response

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), supports natural disaster response by providing subject matter experts in areas such as engineering, biology, hydrology, geology, emergency management, real estate, contracting, and geographical information systems experts. Together the USACE staff supports FEMA’s emergency support function # 3 by providing technical expertise, construction management, and reach back capabilities critical during time sensitive real-world emergencies. Geographic information systems are a key component utilized by USACE to communicate real time information in a context that can be accessed by agencies collaborating to respond to time sensitive missions. USACES employs GIS to produce sharable digital overlays with information such as hydrologic and hydraulic models, flood inundation mapping, consequences models, and data management. GIS development and coordination is not only executed at the disaster site, but globally using the Modeling, Mapping and Consequences Production Center (MMC) with SME’s across nine districts globally (Dalton, 2018). An example of this occurred during Hurricane Florence, where USAES played a critical role as part of the National Response Framework (NRF). During this major hurricane, USACE and the MMC utilized the National Weather Service (NWS) precipitation forecasts to develop flood mapping to include simulations of operational releases of water from USACE dams and impacts on levees within the threatened area (Dalton J. C., 2016).

Crowd Sourcing Example

Natural disaster information has traditionally been obtained from National Mapping Agencies, news organizations, and emergency agencies operating in the vicinity of the event. As technology continues to connect the globe, the potential of crowdsourced geographic data has been viewed as a powerful device to supplement authoritative data, when that data is unavailable, outdated, or incomplete. During the research project, Evolution of Emergency Copernicus services (E2mC), designers developed a component termed “Witness” which enables data acquisition, analysis and storage. Emergency management has successfully used this application in numerous real-world emergencies such as the central Italy earthquake and the Haiti Hurricane of 2016 (Havas, 2017).

Recovery

The recovery phase occurs after initial relief has been provided with the goal of returning property, society, and individual livelihood back to normalized conditions. Recovery also allows government organizations and agencies the opportunity to access natural conditions, updating data and systems to represent geological changes that resulted from the natural disasters. One such technology that enables a clear concise spatial representation of the Earth’s surface is LiDAR or Light Detection and Ranging (National Ocean Service , 2020). LiDAR was used during Hurricane Sandy, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. NOAA and USGS coordination enabled the collection of high resolution topographic and bathymetric elevation data. The LiDAR data was utilized to support studies aimed at hurricane recovery and construction, annotating changes in the earth’s surface elevations due to storm surge, validate storm-surge inundation predictions, and ecological assessments. Elevation data developed by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 were added to the 3DEP and developed into NOAA’s “Digital Coast”, a centralized user friendly information collection that is cost effective with high accuracy (GIS Contributor, 2017).

Advancements in technology and the importance of utilizing geographical information systems to aid in disaster response cannot be overstated. GIS is vital to all phases of the emergency management process, leading to a faster, more concise equipped response team. GIS integration into disaster management enables higher levels of planning, analysis, situational awareness, and recovery operations. The end state is economic savings, increased collaboration and a safer population.

Eye in the sky – the role of drones in oil spill management

Offshore Technology December 2, 2019

Having eyes on the ground, quickly, is essential to any effective disaster management plan. Having them in the air, however, looks set the be the next big thing in the offshore oil and gas industry. We consider the critical role drones can play in the minutes and hours after an oil spill.

An oil spill is a disaster – environmentally, commercially and in PR terms, not to mention the significant danger they can put offshore crew in. BP’s Deepwater Horizon in the Mexican Gulf in 2010, believed to be the worst ever recorded, spilt 210 million gallons of oil into the region over a period of several months. In more recent months, a spill of crude oil off the coast of Brazil has impacted thousands of miles of the country’s north-eastern coastline.

UAVs and what they might mean for the future of spill management

The best way to tackle such events is to respond quickly and effectively. However, doing so is a major challenge for oil companies and other responders. Can the latest technologies help?

Terra Drone believes it has proven they can. One of its subsidiaries, Terra Drone Angola, says it has successfully demonstrated how drones can be used as a surveillance and reconnaissance tool for oil spill incidents, speeding up the decision-making process in the event of a spill. During the oil spill response exercise conducted by a major oil and gas producer, an oil spill was simulated off the coast of West Africa to assess how drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used to quickly collect critical information to relay to responders.

“Environmentally friendly dye was released at the surface of the sea a few hundred meters from the nearest floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) platform using a surfer,” explains Terra Drone Angola’s operations director, Siva Keresnasami. The dye simulated an offshore spill with the aim of demonstrating how UAVs can support response measures.

“We wanted to promote the adoption of UAV technology as a tool to be used to enable effective management and monitoring of actual oil spill incidents,” Keresnasami continued.

An emergency response vessel was positioned a few hundred metres from the simulated spill, onboard was a trained team of UAV pilots operating an octocopter fitted with an RGB camera. Keresnasami says they anticipated one of the biggest challenges, the sun’s glare from the surface of the water, fitting the camera with a polarizing filter to reduce the effect.

What do UAVs have to offer in oil spill management?

The selection of UAV was critically important to the success of the project. The small and often crowded deck of a response vessel renders fixed wing drones unsuitable for this type of mission. Therefore, Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs are ideal for this type of scenario. Keresnasami adds UAVs equipped with Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) or Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) capabilities are best suited for this type of work.

EVLOS refers to an unmanned vehicle which can be operated at distance, extending beyond the line of sight of the pilot with so-called spotters relaying its flight information to the controller. BVLOS, an increasingly popular capability, enables flights to go even further. They are controlled by a pilot who is informed about their position, altitude, speed and direction by onboard instruments.

“The plan was to use software to track the flight path of the drone in real-time, while the UAV was used to fly the perimeter of the simulated spill area,” Keresnasami explains.

However, it’s not just the physical structure and onboard capability of a drone that is important: time in the air is critical too. Keresnasami says: “The longer the UAV can stay in the air, the better suited it will be for an oil spill response job. Oil spills can be spread over a large surface area and UAVs used in this application need to have the capacity to be in the air for more than an hour at least.”

During flight the UAV collects data, equipping responders with everything they need to make the right decisions. It can take photos, provide and record live video streams – helpful for post incident analysis – take thermal images, and provide the GPS coordinates necessary to target a response.

“Real-time transmission of videos and GPS coordinates can be incredibly helpful to identify the exact location of a spill so that other vessels with spill containment equipment – such as booms and dispersants – can be directed to the incident location,” Keresnasami says.

During the exercise, six flights were undertaken with the aim of locating and then sizing the spill. In the event of a real spill, this data would have been used to determine the most appropriate response. However, Keresnasami says there is much more UAVs can do: “Drones can also be used to assess the efficacy of spill containment efforts to see how well booms are containing the spill, or how well the dispersants are working to break down the oil sheen.”

The future of UAVs in the oil and gas industry

The use of drones in the oil and gas industry is not new, they have been used to conduct inspections and surveys for some time. However, as technology advances, their application will continue to grow. Keresnasami says he expects to see increased automation, increased onboard processing capabilities, greater integration of artificial intelligence and new payloads (sensors). He also believes there will be less need for human intervention as they become “smarter machines”.

In the simulated scenario, and others like it, just two operators are needed to provide up to 10 hours of flight a day, making the proposition even more attractive as it reduces logistical requirements and therefore costs.

“There is a small window of time where oil slicks and spills can be effectively dispersed,” he concludes. “They can take to the sky quickly to identify the location of the spill, saving a great amount of time.”

The oil and gas exploration community is always looking to reduce risk, but in the event of a spill, having an eye in the sky quickly is one way of managing a response and reducing the impact on the surrounding environment. The success of this simulation might very well herald a new age in emergency response.

Wildwood Lifeguards Consider Using Drones to Help Save Lives

As technology keeps improving and as the Australians have shown us the benefits of drones, it is great to see more and more lifeguard agencies looking at drones as another tool in their toolbox.

Lifeguards in Wildwood, New Jersey, are considering using drones to help save lives and are putting the drone to the test.

Police use of drones expands rapidly in North Carolina

 

A small unmanned aircraft system, or drone, being operated by the Fayetteville Police Department. Courtesy of the city of Fayetteville

On a cold Christmas Eve night, the man found himself stuck up to his waist in the mud of a swampy area surrounded by deep and frigid creeks in Cumberland County, when a small flying object passed over his head.

The object was a Fayetteville Police drone. It may have saved his life.

The man “had outstanding warrants and ran from a traffic stop … to elude officers,” Fayetteville Police Chief Gina V. Hawkins told Carolina Public Press.

“The subject crossed at least two sections of creek that were over his head. The temperature that night was 40 degrees and the suspect became lodged in the mire. The incident quickly became a rescue mission with the use of the drone to safely guide the officers to the suspect’s location.”

Fayetteville police publicly unveiled their year-old drone program on April 10, touting its early successes, including the Dec. 2017 rescue as one of their small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) program’s successes.

“Due to the frigid temperatures at the time and … that the suspect was stuck in silt, it is highly probable the suspect would have succumbed to hypothermia without the aid of the aviation unit,” a Fayetteville Police Department statement said.

A growing number of law enforcement agencies in North Carolina have initiated drone programs since 2016, when recent changes in both costs and regulations made the unmanned systems practical for local agencies.

The promise of drones, like any tool, comes with concerns about their potential abuse. Observers wonder about erosion of protections against unlawful searches. Courts and lawmakers haven’t yet set precedents or passed legislation to address all of the potential questions raised by the rapidly developing technology.

Law enforcement agencies are keenly aware of these concerns. But as CPP talked with agencies across the state, their answers to drone use varied widely.

While Fayetteville emphasized the potential for drones in rescue situations and said the department will not use them for “vehicle pursuits, to assist in issuing traffic citations (or) for routine patrols,” the December incident was also described as an effort to located a wanted suspect.

This article takes a look at the rapid adoption of drones by the law enforcement and the legal and practical implications.

Read More; Carolina Public Press