GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. — As US authorities grapple with how to regulate the use of unarmed drones in US skies, a small network of police, first responders and experts is already flying unmanned aircraft. These operators say rapidly evolving drone technology is already reshaping disaster response, crime scene reconstruction, crisis management and tactical operations. Critics of US domestic drone use worry about privacy and safety. Several dozen local police departments, federal agencies and universities have special FAA permits to fly drones in US airspace. “Like a lot of law enforcement agencies, our first thoughts were, ‘Cool! Let's use it for tactical missions – for chasing bad guys across the county,'” said Ben Miller, a Mesa County, Colorado, sheriff's deputy. “But the reality is you'll have a mission like that once or twice a year,” he said. “The real utility of unmanned aerial systems is not the sexy stuff. It's the crime scene and accident reconstruction.” Miller's department in rural western Colorado has the widest approval to fly drones of any local law enforcement agency in the US. Mesa has flown 40 missions in just over three years, “none of them surveillance,” said Miller, who crafted the department's drone program and spent a year devising training protocol for fellow deputies before receiving FAA approval. “We can now bring the crime scene right into the jury box, and literally re-enact the crime for jurors,” he said. Recent applications to the FAA, obtained by the civil liberties group Electronic Freedom Foundation, indicate many police want drones for drug investigations, covert surveillance and high-risk tactical operations. Domestic drones currently cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 for a small system like the DraganflyerX6, which stays aloft only 15 minutes, to more than $1 million for sophisticated fixed-wing drones that can remain aloft for hours. Military models are also being used by the Department of Homeland Security, which has a fleet of at least 10 unarmed Predator drones, powerful enough to identify a tennis shoe from 60,000 feet up. First-generation drones can't yet carry an onboard sense-and-avoid system, a requirement of manned aircraft. Experts said mass-produced, drone-mounted sense-and-avoid technology is still two to five years away. FAA officials are required to open US skies in 2015 to widespread use of unmanned aircraft by public agencies and private industry. The boom in drone use, both private and public, is also raising privacy concerns. Civil liberties groups are urging federal and state legislators to place immediate restrictions on drone use by US law enforcement agencies. At least 15 states have drafted legislation that would restrict drone use. In Seattle last month, a public outcry prompted the mayor to order the police chief to return the department's two new drones to their manufacturer. — Agencies
