Philadelphia debates enlarging police drone operations

New or expanded drone operation by police is always a sensitive, when not controversial proposition and one requiring careful examination. And that’s just what Philadelphia City Council members did in discussing the idea when they got an up-close-and-personal gander at a UAV flown inside the meeting hall.

Philadelphia’s police have operated a limited number of drones since 2018, but in recent months calls have arisen to expand those capabilities to improve the department’s service to the community. As part of their deliberations Friday, City Council members witnessed a UAV being flown inside the official chambers for the first time in the August venue’s history, acting as a setup to experts detailing the benefits the craft can offer in various kinds of public activity.

Backers of adding drones to the Philadelphia Police Department’s four SWAT and one maritime search fleet argue performance of the craft by law enforcement over the past five years has proven their effectiveness. That can be both broadened and deepened through enlargement, they noted.

Meanwhile, they added, that same track record of deployment has gone far to allay fears of possible privacy infringements that fueled heated debate over the adoption of drones by police in 2018. As a result, stated City Council president Darrell Clarke, UAVs may now be regarded as a familiar law enforcement asset whose size and effectiveness can be increased with relative ease.

“This is just another phase and another potential tool that can be used to help prevent crime, and to assist our law enforcement officers in dealing with any particular incident,” Clarke said, stressing proactive benefits of drone use will require larger numbers of craft. “I keep emphasizing the fact that prevention is always our preference.” 

Also on hand for discussions were experts from police departments in other cities that have piloted activist drone operations, like Chula Vista, California, and Brookhaven, Georgia. Programs in both municipalities have evolved over time from initial aerial support of law enforcement intervention to, increasingly, being used as stand-ins for cops responding to 911 calls or in deployment in crime prevention missions. 

An official from Chula Vista, for example, testified that nearly a quarter of all calls police received are now efficiently handled by using drones and other tech assets that obviate officers having to travel to intervene. Average response time of UAVs first arriving on the scene in such cases, she added, was a mere 90 seconds.

Though some critics have in recent years denounced deployments of drones by police in Chula Vista as at times invasive and aggressive, officials participating in discussions about Philadelphia similarly expanding its fleets seemed largely supportive of the proposal.

“I’m kind of jealous, quite frankly, of what I saw,” Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy said of the presentations from other cities – whose police are among the estimated 1,500 departments using UAVs across the US. “I’m very interested in seeing how we can, in Philadelphia, develop something.”

Image: Karl Greif/Unsplash