Members of the County Council’s public safety committee asked police and fire leaders this morning to create a policy governing the use of small drones by their departments.
Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Roger Berliner were surprised the fire department has purchased three drones and the county’s innovation director also has a drone—even though county officials haven’t developed a policy on how they should be used.
Dan Hoffman, the county’s director of innovation, said the fire department has three Phantom quadcopter drones and he has one Parrot drone in his office. Both are lightweight, small, remote-controlled flying drones that are equipped with HD video cameras. The fire department drones cost less than $1,000 each, according to a WNEW report.
Hoffman said the county bought off-the-shelf models that are far from the expensive fixed-wing drones currently being used by the military. He said the county is working on a pilot program that would result in a policy that would encompass how public safety departments use the drones as well as how police would respond to private individuals using them to commit crimes.
Fire chief Steve Lohr said the fire department could use its drones to provide information at large fires, such as the three-alarm Upper Rock Circle fire in Rockville earlier this year, where firefighters struggled to see completely around the building due to its size. Also, if there was a gas attack in a Metro station, for example, firefighters could send in a drone equipped with a gas meter and camera to determine whether it’s safe for firefighters to enter the scene and to count casualties, Lohr said.
“Your mind can wander from there about how [drones] can be used,” he said.
County Police Chief Thomas Manger said he was concerned about drones being used by private individuals to commit crimes and about public backlash regarding police use of drones.
“Every police department that has started their use, the controversy has been pretty significant,” Manger said.
The police department hasn’t purchased any drones because of privacy concerns expressed by residents, he said, but it does plan to study how they can be used. He said drones could provide valuable information if deployed into a building where an armed individual is holed up, or to conduct surveillance in an area not easy for police to access.
However, “if you don’t have public support for this, you’re creating more problems than you’re solving,” Manger said.
The chief also said the department has begun studying issues that could arise when residents or others use drones in the county. Drones “provide unique, never before seen” methods of committing crimes, such as invading people’s privacy and the delivery of explosive materials.
“Jurisdictions are wrestling with [these issues] now,” Manger said.
Councilmember Roger Berliner said he was bothered that county officials hadn’t previously approached the council about the issue of drone use. “Once our county starts seriously exploring use in respect to this, the council and public need to be fully engaged,” Berliner said. “We need to understand the context in which we’ll use these devices.”
Councilmember Phil Andrews said drones represent a whole new public policy area and said the potential for abuse is significant.
“This is a classic example of technology outpacing policy,” he said.
