Law enforcement takes to the sky in Chatham-Kent

Drone provides officers on the ground with remote-control eyes in the sky

CHATHAM Sitting in his cruiser, Chatham-Kent police Sgt. Matt Stezycki glances at the screen of his tablet, searching for a suspect hiding in a farmer’s field.

He doesn’t have to look for too long.

After a few passes with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, a crouching infrared figure appears on the screen.

As the suspect starts to move, so does the drone above him, tracking his position and capturing images.

The information provides valuable intelligence, which can then be relayed to other officers at the scene.

The exercise, held Thursday just outside of Chatham, was part of a demonstration on the device, as well as the team operating it.

Stezycki said the aim of the program is to enhance public and officer safety, as well as police efficiency and response.

“We feel we’ve met those goals,” he said. “They’re in line with our mission statement about community safety.”

The Chatham-Kent drone model is an Aeryon Sky Ranger, which can fly at an altitude of 100 metres, with a top speed of 50 km/hr.

It has the ability to carry highdefinition zoom and infrared cameras.

In the three months that the drone has been operational in the municipality, it has been used to investigate seven vehicle crashes, two police assist cases, one aerial photo shoot of school facilities and one missing person call.

There are currently four officers trained to fly the device, including Stezycki, Sgt. Michael Pearce, Const. Jason Herder and Const.

Josh Flikweert.

To become qualified, they had to take written tests required by Transport Canada, and also attend training from Aeryon in Waterloo. This included troubleshooting, as well as emergency scenarios.

“Time is a factor in many of these calls, especially missing person calls,” Flikweert said.

He said in addition to the drone operator, there needs to be a visual observer.

“If there’s an aircraft in the air, I have to be cognizant of that,” he said.

The Sky Ranger is versatile in most weather conditions, except for freezing rain.

“They can be operated anywhere between -20 C and 50 C,” Herder said.

Drone technology is still relatively new when it comes to police usage, with several other police services in Southwestern Ontario stating they don’t currently use the devices.

However, the London Police Service is in the process of rolling out a program.

“The London Police Service is in the developmental stages of implementing an unmanned aerial system (UAS) program,” said Const. Sandasha Bough in an email on Thursday.

“We are currently working on policy and procedure in relation to the usage of the UAS. We’re in the early stages of training and we look forward to using the UAS to assist us with regular operations in the future, specifically missing persons investigations, crime scene photography and traffic reconstruction.”

While the drone takes operator skill to fly, Pearce said it also requires in-depth technical knowledge.

“It’s more of a computer exercise than a flying exercise,” he said.