York Regional Police purchase an unmanned aerial vehicle

York Regional Police say they’ve purchased an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use by traffic collision investigators to produce detailed maps of crash scenes.

YRP says road closures in serious or fatal collision investigations can often take between eight to ten hours. A significant amount of the closure time is due to electronic mapping process of the scene.

With the use of the UAV to capture high-resolution aerial images of the crash, police say road closure times will reduced significantly.

“The UAV is a welcome addition to our investigative tool box,” said YRP Chief of Police Eric Jolliffe. “Not only will our highly-trained investigators be able to map collision scenes more efficiently, but other units within York Regional Police, such as Search and Rescue, will also be able to benefit from the use of a UAV.”

The Canadian-made Aeryon Sky Ranger is flown by a tablet computer and carries cameras and forward-looking infrared technology. Two operators must be present to safely fly the drone. Police say they have already trained three people in how to fly it.

Police said they may also use the drone in search and rescue roles, to locate missing people, to deal with hazardous materials and to complete security sweeps of large outdoor events.

The propeller-driven aircraft weighs only 2.4 kilograms and can fly for up to 50 minutes at a time

With files from CP24