Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Police test drone to take over some helicopter work.
RCMP are testing an aerial drone that can hover over crash sites and crime scenes to take photos or beam video back to officers on the ground.
The remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle should help crash analysts get better, faster images to reconstruct what happened.
RCMP Insp. Norm Gaumont, head of traffic services in the Lower Mainland said it will allow police to reopen roads to traffic faster after crashes than when a helicopter has to be called in.
"Sometimes we absolutely need an aerial shot of the scene and we keep the road shut down longer than we need to," Gaumont said. "This fits in a suitcase and we can have it flying in minutes."
