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Police drones are paving the way for futuristic policing, with Chifley Local Area Command one of 10 across the state now working with the technology.
Constable Glenn McDonald, the officer specially trained to operate the drone, said it would change the way police looked for missing people and handled dangerous operational situations.
And Bathurst’s drone has already been used to investigate local road fatalities.
To qualify to use the drone, Constable McDonald undertook specialised training in the equipment at Goulburn, learning Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.
“The drone has the same regulations as light aircraft and we have to follow strict rules,” he said.
“A lot of regulations apply to its use.”
Constable McDonald said the drone’s potential was amazing.
He said the footage obtained from the drone was fantastic and the technology had already been used to take aerial footage of serious car crashes in the region, including pictures of skid marks, measurements and other imagery from above.
“It’s great if we need to look at a stretch of road, the way it highlights things like skid marks is so much better,” he said.
The drone’s potential in searching for missing people in bushland is also remarkable. The beauty of the aircraft is it can fly lower on the terrain and fly into places a helicopter can’t reach.
“With missing people it’s just going to be so much faster and safer,” Constable McDonald said.
“We can stick this on a side of a cliff and see things that would have taken hours to get to before.”
Constable McDonald said he could send the drone into bushland almost immediately, where previously it would have taken a couple of hours to organise search parties to cover the same terrain.
“Using the drone will also minimise the risk to officers because it will let us see what’s there, like loose rocks,” he said.
“It’s just so much faster and it can also be used in operational situations, for support purposes.”
Constable McDonald said the drone could fly 3km from base and get incredibly clean images from up to 100 metres in the air.
“It’s got a 30-minute battery life, so when it runs short we bring it back put another in battery and go again,” he said.
“It’s the best thing we have, short of calling in Pol Air. What it can produce is unbelievable.”
