First the Chula Vista Police Department implemented full body-worn cameras about two-years ago in an effort to increase public safety.
Now they will soon use drones to assist them with locating missing persons, search for suspects and help search areas that are difficult for officers to get into such as canyons and rough terrain.
Chula Vista Police Capt. Vern Sallee said two drones are scheduled to be rolled out in July with the intent of them being used in tactical situations.
Sallee said he estimates the cost for drones to run between $25,000 to $30,000. He said the bulk of the cost is for the night vision cameras.
The police department does not have its own helicopter so often times they need to call on other agencies to assist with air support.
However, Sallee said sometimes other agencies are using their own helicopters and cannot assist police right away.
Sallee said by having their own drones, they get to deploy their own devices without relying on outside agencies.
“For us, it would not replace the occasional use of helicopters,” Sallee said. “But it would allow us to use them in situations like canyon searches without relying on other agencies or SWAT incidents where you need a camera view into a building where there is a dangerous suspect.”
The drones, also known as an Unmanned Aerial System, are small, maneuverable devices equipped with a camera. A program coordinator, appointed by the police chief, will be responsible for the management of the drone program.
Although CVPD has not yet used drones, a drone committee has thoroughly researched the device, gathered information about drones and conducted public outreaches and community forums.
Before the department can move forward with the drones, they first need to finalize their policy with city council approval. Sallee said the plan is to have city council approve the policy before July.
Currently the police department has a draft policy online for viewing:
The draft policy reads that “the UAS shall not be weaponized.”
Sallee said a warrant would not be needed for the use of drones in certain situations like if there were exigency or an emergency.
Through their body warn cameras, Sallee said they have a robust storage system for storage of footage. He said drone footage would be kept in a cloud-based system.
“We are not going to use drones or UAS’s for any routine surveillance or patrol. We would only use it in tactical situations where there is some type of exigency or emergency,” he said. “So in those cases we would not be using retaining footage that was not essential to the actual case itself, we would only use footage that is relevant to a criminal case.”
Sallee said from outreaches, the department has heard privacy concerns from citizens. He said citizens are worried that drones would invade their privacy inside their homes.
Sallee said he wants the community to know that the department has a deep respect for personal privacy and said surveillance won’t be used to look inside someone’s home, unless they have reason to believe criminal activity is taking place.
“We are not going to use this to drum up business,” he said. “We are going to use drones for the safety of our officers, for the safety of the public.”
