North Bay Police Part of Drone Information Session
North Bay Police Service drone pilots participated in an information session on May 7th, which included a live demonstration and some real-life scenarios, by officers from the Peel Regional Police Service.
The North Bay Police Service has eight drone pilots, and as drone technology improves, so does the need expand police-drone programs throughout Canada. The demonstration today allowed officers to see the newest technology, and how it can be used in many different policing applications. The Peel Regional Police Service is a leader in the province in terms of drone program deployment, and officers from their service brought their command centre and a “Drone in a Box” to provide training and demonstrations, which took place at the Omichel Field Complex. The mock-exercise included the tracking of a vehicle down Lakeshore Drive, and into the Omischl parking lot. When the “suspect” fled into the bush area, he was easily followed by the drone. The infra-red technology allows the heat signal of the individual to be easily detected.
The “Drone in a Box” technology allows for landing/charging centres to be set up in different areas of the city, and drones to be deployed remotely from those locations. As this type of program expands, North Bay may have a chance to be a part of a pilot project to see if this is a viable program for other police services across the country. “A drone pilot can be at police headquarters and fly the closest drone to an area where it is needed in any type of application” said Inspector of Operations, Jeff Warner. "This technology has been used by Peel Region Police to fly a drone to a crime in progress, before officers could physically get there on the ground. Suspects have been followed in real-time and apprehended safely, away from the actual crime scene.” Officers from NBPS were shown the footage of a real-life incident from Peel and the subsequent arrests, as part of the in-class training.
The North Bay Police Service has used its drone successfully on a number of occasions. In one incident missing elderly man was located in the bush, and in another, a criminal was tracked through the bush and eventually arrested after he had committed several break-and-enters.