By summer, Cleveland Metroparks will be testing new drones to support water rescues along the lakefront.
The parks system has an agreement with BRINC, a company that manufactures public safety drones, to try out two drones for free for a year before deciding whether to extend their contract.
Cleveland Metroparks Police Chief Kelly Stillman said he hopes the drones will be ready to use by May and would primarily be used for water rescues or other emergencies along the lakefront. They can also be flown to support officers responding to calls or to gather evidence of potential criminal activity.
The drones can also carry items like Narcan or an EpiPen. Stillman said that if the drones help save just one life, he’ll see the program as a success.
Priority One: Assisting water rescues at the Metroparks’ eight lakefront properties
In December, Cleveland Metroparks signed its contract with BRINC. The Metroparks will receive two BRINC Drone as First Responder (DFR) drones, hardware, software, training and support.
The first year of the program is at no cost to Cleveland Metroparks. “After the year, we can determine if it’s good technology for us,” said Stillman. The Metroparks can add three years to the contract, at a cost of $119,998 per year, for a total of $359,994.
The drones will primarily be stationed along the lakefront, providing full coverage of these parks. According to Stillman, these drones can respond to calls within minutes.
“When someone is in peril in the water, time is of the essence,” explained Stillman. BRINC drones can help locate and carry life-saving supplies, such as a lifejacket, to keep people afloat while they wait for rescue.
Metroparks representatives said they could not tell Signal Cleveland how many water rescues occur in the parks each year.
Cleveland Documenters noted the plan for Metroparks police to use drones.
Read more from Documenter Hannah Morgan on the Cleveland Metroparks Board of Park Commissioners meeting on Dec. 18
Drones can assist officers with information before they arrive to a call
The drones are not changing protocols or replacing officers, Stillman said. They are just another tool officers can use to gather intelligence.
While BRINC provides ample information on how to fly the drones, there’s no guidebook on when to use them. “We are going to have to learn on the fly and develop our own protocol as to how best to utilize drones,” said Stillman.
“This isn’t Big Brother,” he continued. We aren’t going to “follow people around who are drinking where they shouldn’t be or smoking marijuana in the park.”
The drones will only be used to respond to calls for service. Supervisors have full discretion to decide when to launch drones.
Each call for service is documented in their dispatch system. If a report is made, the drone footage will be attached as digital evidence. The report will also contain specifics of the drones’ deployment, including their flight patterns, flight duration and height. All reports are public information and can be accessed through public records requests.
“If you were a crime victim, you would certainly want the police department to use every bit of technology available,” Stillman said.
The drone footage can be accessed by responding officers in their vehicles. For higher-level incidents, Stillman and the two captains can access and assess the footage from the BRINC app. He can also share a link to the footage with the Metroparks administration.
Data is retained within the BRINC app according to a retention schedule. All footage is kept for at least 30 days. Incidents that result in an arrest could be kept for years.
Drones can be used for surveillance but with limits
Stillman said the drones can “certainly be used for surveillance.” However, they will never be launched without a specific purpose.
For example, if the Metroparks police had intelligence that frequent drug deals were occurring at one of their marinas or beaches, they could use the drone to surveil the area without being physically present. If they see something, they can note the car leaving the scene and pull it over.
“The drones are just another set of eyes above everything that no one knows are even there,” said Stillman.
