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Local Mounties get eye in the sky

By: Staff Writer

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 at 2:25 PM | Comments: 0

A drone helicopter acquired by the RCMP can be used for aerial surveillance of crime scenes.

There's a police helicopter buzzing around Brandon these days, but it's unlikely officers wil ever get a chance to take a ride on it.

Enlarge Image

An example of the aerial views captured by the drone helicopters, which can be used to hep reconstruct traffic crashes. (RCMP HANDOUT)

Instead, the helicopter — one of two acquired by RCMP's D Division — is a small, unmanned version, carrying a camera, and capable of aquiring real-time information from an aerial perspective.

Currently, one of the helicopters is in Brandon, being used for traffic reconstruction. The other is in Dauphin, used for forensic identification.

Police say the helicopters require three people to operate: a pilot, a "payload operator" and a safety officer. They can take both still photos and video of a scene at a much lower height than planes. At a cost of up to $30,000 each, depending on configuration, it's cheaper — and safer, too.

Aside from crime scenes or traffic crashes, RCMP said they could use the cameras to determine the size, shape and flow of spilled chemical, for example — without sending someone into a possibly dangerous situation.

Other uses could include search and rescue, major event planning, environmental disaster response, suspicious object identification, and underwater recovery in clear shallow water.

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