Oxford police lead regional effort to share drones with area police departments

Feb. 24-- Feb. 24--As three Southbridge apartments were simultaneously raided for drugs Nov. 2, 2018, it would surprise no one that a regional SWAT team, warrants in hand, converged upon the neighborhood.

But lesser known was that Oxford's Air One, a DJ1 Inspire 1 drone, hovered overhead, to ensure that a target of the raid didn't come barreling out of any number of side doors.

The Oxford Police Department is heading up a regional effort to share drones with police departments that don't possess one, given the expense. Oxford's diminutive aircraft, which has an $8,400 live, 360-degree combination high-definition and thermal camera that captures still photos and video, is run by Oxford Police Officer Craig R. Gagner. It's the highest-resolution camera available.

Oxford police have been using the drone the past 12 months, and Oxford Police Chief Anthony Saad has been tapped as the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council's drone unit leader, which is months away from going live, he said.

CEMLEC, a nonprofit consortium of more than 70 municipal law enforcement agencies and the county sheriff that helps each member through mutual aid, had already been sharing accident reconstruction experts, SWAT and motorcycle team members, canines and other services.

According to the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York, at least 910 state and local public safety agencies in the U.S. had purchased drones, of which 599 were law enforcement agencies, as of May.

Oxford and Westboro police are two of the first local police departments to launch drone programs, and gave demonstrations to the Telegram & Gazette last week.

Westboro acquired its drone, the "AIR 1" DJI Inspire 1 Drone, in September 2017, and has since been using it to photograph crash scenes, and observe parking and traffic issues at large events, such as festivals. If there's a concern about traffic, Westboro Sgt. Clifford Luce said, the police might use the drone to see if there's validity to the complaint, or if it's simply someone causing a temporary problem by making a turn. It's also been used to look for missing people or people presumed to be missing.

Westboro's recent acquisition of a forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, thermal camera allowed it to elevate its drone program, Sgt. Luce said.

Its other key features include the addition of spotlights and a "stork" connection system that allows the police to send an object of up to 3 pounds, such as a life vest or bag containing a phone or walkie-talkie, to someone who might be in trouble.

"At least they would have something they can hold onto while the Fire Department is making their way out to them," Sgt. Luce said.

As for other departments poised to join the team, Officer Gagner of Oxford said Gardner police awaits its certificate of authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration, while Leicester and Douglas have approved declaration letters.

"As soon as we get a couple more police departments committed and invested, we're ready to go," Chief Saad said, noting that the addition of Gardner will be vital because it can handle requests from northernmost communities.

For police to operate a drone, a certificate of authorization from the FAA is required. Another important component for the local regional effort is that Chief Saad is requiring departments to possess an insurance and liability policy, in the event the drone strikes someone or something and causes damage. Oxford received insurance from a company called Global Aerospace. It costs Oxford $1,548 a year, which the chief said is more than most people pay for auto insurance.

The policy is similar to one an airplane pilot would hold, with a $1 million liability policy for damage, and it covers a percentage of the drone should it get damaged, with a 5 percent deductible.

"We've got about $14,000 (invested) in this, maybe a little more," Chief Saad said.

Officer Gagner shared aerial video footage of the three-in-one Southbridge drug busts, his attention drawn to a man who appeared to be serving as a lookout for the alleged dealers. The raid resulted in eight arrests.

Southbridge police had also used Oxford's help and its drone in October, when it tried to help identify the source of an explosion in the Torrey Road area, after natural gas had been ruled out. Southbridge Police Chief Shane D. Woodson, noting the area was abundant with tree cover, said investigators weren't able to pinpoint a source, but authorities are confident something significant happened -- perhaps low-grade dynamite was used -- because several residents reported their homes shook.

Chief Woodson said he would consider purchasing a drone for his department if grant money became available. Otherwise, the department can't afford one.

Thus, the regional cooperation is vital to local departments, Chief Woodson said.

Sgt. Luce, who helps run Westboro's drone unit with Sgt. Michael Daniels, said drones won't ever replace the state police's air wing helicopter unit, whose spotlights and FLIR thermal imaging camera are more advanced than anything a drone could do.

But drones are a good tool when the state helicopter can't come to a scene or is 40 minutes away. In just a few minutes, during Westboro's demonstration, Sgt. Luce had the drone over a commercial parking lot some 187 feet in the air, 487 feet away from his location in the Westboro police parking lot.

The Oxford drone was also used to help Spencer police search for a suspect who wielded a 3-foot sword during a melee in the parking lot of an apartment building on Main Street earlier this month.

"I actually found someone on the trails that we thought was him, but it was just a hiker," said Officer Gagner, who guided police to confront the hiker.

Of note was that in that particular search, the hiker's movements could be viewed on a screen while the subject was in the woods during the daytime, Officer Gagner said.

That's because the camera allows for the use of various color palettes to identify heat signatures, referred to in the industry as "white hot" or "black hot." This is how police track movements.

Conversely, Westboro police posted video on social media of a training exercise using its drone and FLIR camera to track a person, the department intern, who was running toward woods in complete darkness.

Westboro just recently acquired its FLIR camera, bringing its drone program to another level, Sgt. Luce said.

According to Chief Saad of Oxford, a meeting of area police chiefs early last year resolved to enact the CEMLEC drone team. Westboro Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie is president of CEMLEC.

Civil libertarians have spoken out about Fourth Amendment privacy considerations associated with the use of drones.

Asked to address the issue, Sgt. Luce noted it is "an emerging kind of thing."

He said that Westboro has adopted a protocol where, if it is conducting surveillance on a house that has a stockade fence, police won't fly the drone over the fence as a way to circumvent that resident's expectation of privacy. If police felt there was a need to look beyond the fence with the drone, it would simply apply for a search warrant, he said.

That said, if they're looking for a lost child or conducting surveillance of traffic conditions while flying over homes, Sgt. Luce noted that the FAA is considered the owner of air space.

In regard to hobbyists who might operate his drone and take photographs while someone is in her yard, say, sunbathing, Sgt. Luce said police would attempt to identify where the drone came from and forward the information to the FAA to investigate.

Last year, the president signed a law that would allow federal authorities to shoot down private drones if they are considered a threat.

Sgt. Luce said he's heard the argument that private citizens should be able to shoot drones that are hovering over their homes.

"That's not something that's allowed at all," he said, shaking his head. "You don't own the air space."

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