The Eugene Police Department recently received an FAA waiver to expand the reach of its drone program.
The new waiver allows drone operators to fly beyond a visual line of sight at altitudes up to 200 feet, working from the police station. Eugene Police had to prove their 13 pilots are fully trained and the equipment meets safety and airspace requirements.
EPD Police Sergeant Kyle Williams said the new regulation helps the department act more quickly and safely, and allows the drone operators to work more hours because they can use one, instead of two, handlers.
“In fact," he told KLCC, "(recently) we had a suspect-capture where, rather than officers showing up and having to drive around for who knows how long, looking for somebody, the drone remote operator was on scene before the officers were, found the suspect and just gave clear directions. They went right to him and took him into custody.”
Williams said five EPD drones are docked around town, and a North Eugene site will be added soon. In addition to his department's 13 trained drone pilots, Williams said Springfield Police employs three licensed drone operators, and the two departments often work together as a metro team. The program is funded by Eugene’s Community Safety Payroll Tax.
The use of police drones has raised concerns about privacy, interference with free speech during pubic gatherings, and possible misuse.
Jay Stanley, an ACLU policy analyst, wrote about the FAA’s expansion of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones in police usage in a 2023 report, saying, “Drones often elicit a visceral response. When the identity of their operator and reason for their presence are not crystal clear, they are inscrutable and often perceived as alien and hostile. We saw a very strong backlash in state legislatures around the country when drones first came into their own in the early 2010s, because this technology has a significant potential to invade privacy, create chilling effects, and otherwise degrade the quality of life of our communities.”
Stanley's paper argues for several limits and guidelines for local police departments, including not recording camera information as a drone is traveling to its destination, and not allowing any recorded video to be shared with outside parties or be used by artificial intelligence.
