Halton police using drones

They once seemed like science fiction but now drones are a reality. Becoming part of our every day lives. We see how police are using them to protect our back yards.

They seem to jump, then hover. While it’s fun to watch, this is just the latest tool helping the Halton police.

Halton Police Constable Andy Olesen: “Potentially, I think it could be a game changing device.”

The police drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle, comes equipped with a high definition camera. It can film accidents, crime scenes, search and rescue, or even a curious reporter. And they can climb, to an impressive hight of over 100 meters. But there may be one draw back.

Halton Police Detective David Banks: “There’s no joy stick to it, unfortunately. Some of us would like a joystick.”

Instead, the drone is controlled through a GPS map on a tablet computer. Officers just have to touch the area on the map, and there it goes.

With this video of the area around Halton police headquarters, you can imagine the huge field of depth it gives police when gathering evidence.

Banks says: “It’s a vast more amount than boots on the ground can cover. And a lot faster than feet on the ground would cover as well.”

Drones are becoming more apparent in our every day lives. Just last week, Amazon announced plans to one day deliver packages to their customers this way. They are also used by real estate agents to map property, and by the film industry, like this scene from Harry Potter. They are also being used as news gathering tools, like this footage from the Philippines showing the devastation from Typhoon Hyann just last month.

Constable Andy Olesen and Detective David Banks have been in charge of this program since it’s inception in 2009. Halton’s drone cost about $100,000 but that’s covered by a grant from the defence research department. It was the brain child of the University of Toronto and Waterloo based Aeryon Labs in Waterloo. As fun as this is, they want to be sure, one thing is clear says Banks: “This is by no means a toy what so ever.”