16 North Dakota counties will soon use two small unmanned aircraft to monitor crime scenes and track suspects.
Coordinating the project — part research, part law enforcement — is Al Frazier, a Grand Forks deputy sheriff and an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota.
Sheriff’s deputies and police officers from the Grand Forks area have been training since last fall, Frazier said. “I really think these are going to be situationally deployed over an incident,” Frazier said. “I don’t think they’re going to be used extensively for covert surveillance, so I see them more as a tactical resource rather than a strategic resource used for intelligence gathering.”
The small aircraft have some limitations. They can’t fly in high winds or low clouds. Operation usually requires two people — a pilot and a sensor operator to monitor the video.
The fixed-wing Raven from AeroVironment, Inc., has about a four-foot wingspan, can stay in the air more than an hour and carries a price tag of about $175,000. The helicopter, by Draganfly Innovations Inc., is about three feet long, can stay aloft for about 30 minutes and costs about $45,000. The aircraft are being provided free for this project.
Frazier believes the aircraft will be useful for things like monitoring a location before a drug raid, or looking for a fleeing burglary suspect. He hopes what is learned in Grand Forks will help expand the use of small unmanned aircraft for law enforcement.
“I really envision it being like a canine officer team,” Frazier said. “You would have officers and deputies cross-trained as small unmanned aircraft operators. They would have the aircraft in their patrol vehicles.”
By this spring, law enforcement in Grand Forks and 16 surrounding North Dakota counties expect to begin regularly operating unmanned aircraft. Frazier said.
The FAA restricts the use of unmanned aircraft, but the University of North Dakota was granted a waiver to operate the aircraft. The FAA will not allow the aircraft to cross the state line into Minnesota.
Source: Minnesota Public Radio