RCMP aims to dramatically expand reach into remote areas via drones
Fast, pilotless aircraft could arrive hours before officers at crime scenes and disasters, but advocates worry about privacy implications
The RCMP is looking to expand the growing use of drones by Canadian police, issuing a tender for long-range aircraft that could reach far-flung crime scenes and other incidents well before officers arrived.
The force, like others in Canada, is currently using off-the-shelf drones in more contained urban areas.
A recently posted tender document asks vendors instead to supply machines capable of traveling at least 400 kilometres and five hours on a single battery charge, aiding the Mounties’ many detachments in remote parts of the country.
The plan would place the RCMP among the first forces in North America to employ drones as “first responders,” making it to destinations before officers, and flying well outside the line of sight of the operator, says a surveillance expert.
The devices — officially called remote piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) — would have to fly as fast as 100 kilometres an hour and transmit video, thermal imaging and other data back to a base station in real time, says the RCMP’s tender document.
Being responsible for “the majority of Canada’s land mass,” the force has detachments that cover tens of thousands of square kilometres of sparsely populated area, said spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Chamberland by email.
Drones that “travel at high speed over long distances would help increase police and public safety by arriving first on scene, retrieving as much information as possible and relaying it to emergency service personnel on their way,” said the request for proposals.
