VPD drone program grows as observers seek transparency

The Vancouver Police Department is sharing more details about its drone program.

The Vancouver Police Department has dramatically expanded its use of drone technology since it established the program in 2019, but while the technology has become a pivotal tool in a variety of unexpected ways, the VPD’s unchanged privacy policy has observers urging an update.

The department started with one drone and now has upwards of 20 Remotely-Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), which are dispatched for more than 1,800 flights per year. More than 400 of those have what police call a “nexus of criminality.”

“We have a full-time sergeant and a full -time unit with four full-time operators,” said Supt. Don Chapman, who supervises the RPAS system for the force and has overseen the expansion of models and uses of the technology.

“We have a smaller drone that’s capable of flying interiors and our emergency response team actually uses that quite often,” he said.

Other uses have included finding missing people with infrared technology and mapping the scene of a car crash.

“We are not interested in looking in people’s windows or anything like that,” Chapman added.

More controversial uses

CTV News has been seeking a demonstration of the current drone models and an in-depth look at the program for months. On Wednesday, several senior officers provided just that on the roof of the VPD headquarters south of downtown Vancouver.

Sgt. Daniel Cameron showed journalists the quick takeoff and landing of the devices – which can be over the scene of an incident in as little as 90 seconds – and explained the 30- to 40-minute flight time can be limited by hot or cold weather conditions. Video from the drones is transmitted directly to the command centre in high definition.

According to the VPD’s own policy, “flights will not be conducted for the purpose of recording and/or identifying members of the public involved in peaceful protests or demonstrations.” However, the force routinely observes rallies and gatherings that have no signs of violence or criminality.

Chapman said that police monitor such activities for “situational awareness” to know where crowds are heading and pre-emptively block streets and avoid conflicts with traffic. He emphasized that they only record about five per cent of the video the RPAS send back to command.

“When we see a nexus to a crime or a nexus to an investigation, we’ll press that record button, we’ll then record it, then it will be logged like every other piece of digital evidence in the Vancouver Police Department through our digital evidence management system,” he said.

Senior officers on hand insisted that when an investigation ends or if Crown prosecutors decline to lay charges in a case, the drone footage would be purged. They also pointed out that while faces may be identifiable in the HD footage, they wouldn’t be analyzed by facial recognition technology because the VPD does not use it.

Concerns remain

The discussion comes as a third-party investigator probes the use of drone technology by the VPD after a complaint by the BC Civil Liberties Association, which raised concerns about unnecessary surveillance it alleges may jeopardize the privacy of demonstrators at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

“We have concerns about things like the increased scope of the program, as well as the fact that it’s unclear to us how they take accountability if and when they make mistakes, because everybody makes mistakes,” said Meghan McDermott, the BCCLA’s policy director. “Their policy doesn’t really speak to what would happen if it’s ever breached, like if there is a rogue officer that’s using it to get some information on somebody or an incident that they’re interested in.”

She acknowledged that the group was initially supportive of the drone use policy, which also involved the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, but said the BCCLA is disappointed the VPD hasn’t provided regular updates about how and when the technology is used.

“It would be great if they could update their own policies so that we understood the parameters around when they’re used versus not being used, because it’s pretty easy for people to feel targeted,” said McDermott.

Chapman told CTV News police are regularly reviewing their use policy to make sure they’re in compliance and whether they should update it. He also said the VPD is currently working with a committee of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police to determine best practices across the many police agencies using the technology, including legal considerations.