RCMP drone expansion comes with hefty price tag, prompts concerns of ‘mission creep’
The RCMP is exploring an array of uses for unmanned aircraft — from aerial traffic surveillance to reconnaissance missions during hostage crises to perimeter security at major events — and some divisions appear willing to pay big bucks for new drone technology, internal documents show.
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The RCMP is exploring an array of uses for unmanned aircraft — from aerial traffic surveillance to reconnaissance missions during hostage crises to perimeter security at major events — and some divisions appear willing to pay big bucks for new drone technology, internal documents show.
Mounties in Alberta are looking at acquiring a fixed-wing drone — costing at least $350,000 — to respond to search and rescue missions and other emergencies.
But the expanded use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are raising concerns about “mission creep” among privacy advocates and with regulators at Transport Canada who, according to the documents, have recorded “airspace violations” by some police agencies.
Drones have become increasingly popular among hobbyists, businesses and the police. The RCMP’s 60-plus drones are used primarily for aerial photographs to aid in collision investigations and the reconstruction of car accidents.
But documents obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin through access-to-information laws show that uses are expanding.
In January, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s security detail got a demonstration of a UAV’s “capabilities for perimeter security,” according to the documents. The demonstration took place at Meech Lake in Gatineau Park in Quebec.
Drones could also be used to support emergency response teams during hostage takings or incidents involving barricaded individuals. UAVs can conduct a “reconnaissance of the emergency situation by taking video and still shots … pinpointing danger areas and locating potential safe entry routes,” says an RCMP report.
Mounties in Alberta are considering the purchase of at least one fixed-wing drone capable of “long endurance flights” for search-and-rescue missions and natural disaster response, the documents show. Unlike the current fleet of RCMP drones, which are typically rotor-propelled and cost tens of thousands of dollars each, fixed-wing drones cost $350,000 to $1 million.
Mark Hovdestad, base manager of the RCMP Edmonton Air Section, said in an interview that the division is looking for funding sources for one fixed-wing drone to use on a trial basis. If the pilot project goes well, they could end up getting a handful of them.
Hovdestad acknowledged that the units are not cheap. But for complex missions, an aircraft is needed that can stay in the air longer and carry larger, more sophisticated cameras, he said. “You won’t get that out of a hobby store.”
One model Hovdestad is eyeing is the Puma, a UAV with a three-metre wingspan made by California-based AeroVironment, Inc. The Puma is used by the U.S. military, as well as by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for environmental management and wildlife observation and by oil giant British Petroleum (BP) in Alaska to get 3-D images of pipelines and other infrastructure, said Steve Gitlin, AeroVironment’s vice-president of marketing.
Transport Canada requires that UAVs be flown in the line of sight. But internal RCMP emails show that some members believe this could change in the future.
In an email to a colleague in April, Hovdestad wrote that Pumas would be “capable of taking us beyond line of sight when that becomes our reality.”
In another email, members of K Division’s traffic services team wrote that five years from now, fixed-wing drones could be used to monitor the roads for reckless drivers from 1,000 feet in the air, where they would be “virtually invisible.”
Adam Molnar, a lecturer at Deakin University in Australia and former post-doctoral fellow at Queen’s University’s
Surveillance Studies Centre in Kingston, Ont., said persistent aerial monitoring amounts to surveillance, which the force has said it will not do.
“This gets to the problem of authorizing the use of technology and justifying it under emergency management and yet the technology is so flexible that it can be used for other uses without oversight,” he said.
Molnar said the RCMP needs to consult the public and formulate precise policies on how drone technology will and will not be used and how long data will be retained. “Don’t just play to murky definitions that would allow the use of the technology in a way that would contravene the privacy expectations of Canadians.”
RCMP policy states that UAVs “shall not be used for surveillance of persons or vehicles except in exigent circumstances where there is an imminent risk to life or safety.” The policy further states that UAVs “may be used as an investigative aid when there is no expectation of privacy or when required judicial authorizations have been obtained.”
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox said Tuesday an example of an exigent circumstance would be an active-shooter scenario. Asked if the RCMP would ever use UAVs to monitor a large public protest, Cox said, “it would depend on situational factors and available intelligence.”
The RCMP documents state that the force has so far seen no need to carry out a privacy impact assessment of its use of UAVs. Cox said one was not required because of the restrictions the RCMP has imposed on their use.
The documents also reveal that Transport Canada officials have expressed “great concerns” about UAVs being operated without direct oversight from aviation experts and that some police agencies have committed “airspace violations.”
Transport Canada has “clearly communicated their preference” for a structured UAV program versus an ad hoc approach, the documents say.
Transport Canada spokeswoman Andrea Moritz was unable to provide any information Tuesday about the violations. “Police forces, like any other UAV operator must comply with Transport Canada regulations and obtain a (permit),” she said.
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