Community Policing and UAS – Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Public Safety

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What is UAS?

sUAS and Public Safety

Community Policing and UAS

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Conducting a Law Enforcement UAS Needs Assessment

UAS Program Implementation

UAS Program Reporting and Evaluation

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The importance of an informed, thoroughly planned, and transparent decision to purchase a sUAS made with community support can be driven home by a few examples of what happened when police agencies purchased a sUAS without careful planning and consideration of community concerns.

The Seattle Police Department purchased two unmanned aircraft systems with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Public outcry over the possibility of their use for spying and other privacy concerns led the mayor to cancel the program before the sUAS ever flew.

The Los Angeles Police Department which received the banished Seattle PD sUAS as a donation was forced to state publicly that it had no plans to use them for the forseeable future.

The Boston Police Department was forced to publicly defend their sUAS purchase after the ACLU criticized them for not notifying the public first.

Community policing derives from the concept that trust and mutual respect between police and the communities they serve is critical to public safety. Building on community policing principles of transparency and co-production gives law enforcement leaders a vehicle to navigate rocky terrain while continuing to build trust with the community when considering establishing a sUAS program. Ensuring community input into the decision making process, from idea inception through implementation, helps to ensure community trust and promote accountability.

How can UAS deployment affect community trust in the police and what can the police do to uphold that trust?

What are the primary community apprehensions police are likely to encounter when planning for and deploying UAS and how can they best address them? ( Cohen McCullough 2014 )

How can police use sUAS for life-saving missions while maintaining their commitment to procedural justice, transparency, and accountability?

What technological and operational considerations should police consider prior to the acquisition and implementation of any new technology such as sUAS?

Partnerships for problem solving are at the heart of the community policing philosophy. While there are many potential partners within any given community, building consensus about sUAS will require partnerships centered on developing solutions to problems.

In identifying appropriate stakeholders with whom to forge those partnerships, it is important for police agencies to consider the public safety issues that are most prevalent in their community. It is also important not to forget your own department personnel! Obtaining consensus regarding UAS at all levels within the department is as important as obtaining consensus from the community.

Potential stakeholder partners:

Individual community members and community groups

Other government agencies

Lawmakers

Non-profit organizations

Private businesses

Media

Department personnel

Departments that were successful in standing a sUAS program made community outreach a central feature of their planning and utilized tools such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help address common questions.

Visit the Resources page for samples of actual FAQs developed by departments with successful sUAS programs.

Departments that were successful in creating a sUAS program said they made community outreach a central feature of their planning and utilized tools such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help address common questions related to sUAS.

For communities to be open to the use of sUAS by law enforcement, the public safety benefits of their use must clearly outweigh any potential risks of injury posed to both people and property as well as recognize and address their concerns.

To proactively address potential liability and minimize risk, law enforcement agencies should have a clear understanding of how and when they could be subject to civil law suits by members of their communities.

Specific UAS incidents that could expose a law enforcement agency to civil liability as well as undermine community policing efforts include:

UAS collisions

Violations of property rights

Interference with communication systems

Violations of a person’s right to privacy

Violations of the First Amendment

Liability based on federal statute

Measures for ensuring accountability to the community are key and should be established early.

What steps will your department need to take to assure the community that your department will be held 100 percent accountable for all use of the sUAS and the data it collects?

The exact procedures for ensuring accountability will vary from department to department but the responsibility for carrying them out will likely rest with community policing officers and citizen advisory boards.

Law enforcement agencies should encourage public engagement and collaboration, including the use of community advisory bodies, when developing a policy for the use of a new technology.

The Newton (Kansas) police department has partnered with the Wichita Eagle to demonstrate the department's new sUAS. By doing so, the department has also been able to explain the departmental policies governing its use, showing the community that there is an accountability structure in place.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has for several years now introduced their sUAS to the community at the annual Mesa County Safety Fair, where the sUAS team is available to showcase the aircraft, answer questions, and provide the opportunity to members of the community to see the systems up close.

Community policing advocates recommend police partnerships with the media as a beneficial strategy for helping raise public awareness and encourage participation in community-based projects. Similar to individual and community partnerships, each partnership with local media outlets will be unique. As such, there is no standard media plan that will work for all.

WASHINGTON — Ensuring the safety of the public is a core mission for all professional law enforcement agencies...click to read more.

Upon being granted a C.O.A. for a Draganflyer X6 sUAS, the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department sent out a press release to the media and community describing the sUAS and detailing the jurisdiction and restrictions on its use.

This website is supported by cooperative agreement 2013-CK-WX-K002 awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.

The Police Foundation is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that has been advancing policing through innovation and science for nearly half a century. As the country’s oldest police research organization, the Police Foundation is at the forefront of evidence based policing and works to translate research findings into practice through technical assistance, training, and dissemination.