Drone to help police clear crash scenes quickly

York Regional Police are seen on the ground in this still photo taken from drone footage. (YouTube / York Regional Police)

Police north of Toronto have purchased an unmanned drone which will be use in collision investigations.

York Regional Police say the 2.4-kilogram drone is able to create electronic maps of crash scenes in mere minutes.

The process normally takes investigators between eight and 10 hours in the case of a serious collision. The drone can take hundreds of photos from the air in five to 10 minutes, then digitally render the entire scene into an electronic map.

"With the assistance of the UAV to capture high-resolution aerial images of a collision scene, it is anticipated that when deployed, road-closure time will be reduced significantly," police said in a news release Friday.

The Canadian-made Aeryon SkyRanger drone was designed to meet military and government specifications, and can fly for 50 minutes at a time. It is controlled by a tablet computer from the ground.

It can withstand wind gusts of up to 90 km/h, and temperatures as low as -33 C, or as high as 50 C.

The drone is also able to take infrared images when necessary, and police say it may be used in search and rescue roles. It may also be used to complete security sweeps of large, outdoor events.