I have reliable information that for about the last year, the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the third-largest law enforcement agency in the United States, has been seriously studying the feasibility of operating small AUV's and has been testing several models. My guess is the most likely candidates are the ubiquitous DJI Phantoms and perhaps the Yuneec Typhoon H and/or Q500 as well. Cautious of the recent feverish public concerns surrounding potential UAV privacy infringements, the CHP steered cleared of such studies for the last half decade; however, they have apparently now opted to reconsider that stance. Many other law enforcement agencies in California have been using UAV's for several years now, consistently touting great success in documenting crime scenes and complex, high-profile traffic collision scenes. I suspect that will be the absolute limit of the CHP's use, which will be thoroughly restricted by departmental policy. As an aside, I am unaware of any state or local law enforcement agency using UAV's for surveillance purposes, which would likely be a slippery slope; there's nothing like having your name attached to bad case law, eh? I suspect the CHP will ultimately purchase a small fleet of UAV's and assign one or two to each of their nine Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Teams (MAIT), elite teams of highly-trained collision investigators who investigate and reconstruct the most severe, complex collisions and document other high-profile crime scenes.
And this year Yuneec is the sponsor for that very topic:
Enterprise - Police, Fire, Emergency Response and SAR
Enterprise - Police, Fire, Emergency Response and SAR
I've been invited to attend a demo of this at Interdrone tomorrow...
WHAT: Witness the H520 in action, as Yuneec and the Nevada Highway patrol demonstrate the latest commercial sUAS during an accident reconstruction. View the actual flight mission. See how Yuneec’s DataPilot™ mission planning software enables the Nevada Highway Patrol to accurately and efficiently capture accident scene data. Talk to Yuneec UAV experts and NHP officers.
WHAT: Witness the H520 in action, as Yuneec and the Nevada Highway patrol demonstrate the latest commercial sUAS during an accident reconstruction. View the actual flight mission. See how Yuneec’s DataPilot™ mission planning software enables the Nevada Highway Patrol to accurately and efficiently capture accident scene data. Talk to Yuneec UAV experts and NHP officers.
Ah, bummer! I wish I'd known about this expo/seminar sooner; I'd have definitely attended. The truth is, I work for the CHP (I was trying to pull off the secret-identity thing) and was a former MAIT investigator. My peers and I have long pined for the opportunities sUAS's could provide our investigations, so I'm excited the Department is finally moving in that direction. It also helps that I've owned and piloted a Yuneec Typhoon for the last year or two.
Ah, bummer! I wish I'd known about this expo/seminar sooner; I'd have definitely attended. The truth is, I work for the CHP (I was trying to pull off the secret-identity thing) and was a former MAIT investigator. My peers and I have long pined for the opportunities sUAS's could provide our investigations, so I'm excited the Department is finally moving in that direction. It also helps that I've owned and piloted a Yuneec Typhoon for the last year or two.
E15880, next time you are in Vegas, look me up and I'll introduce you to NHP MIRT and show you how we use UAV's.
DSM
