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Western Australia Police has selected multinational firm RocketDNA for the trial of its “drone first responder” (DFR) system.
The year-long program will see transportable “drone-in-a-box” drone docks used around the state for law enforcement tasks including emergency response, surveillance, and search and rescue. Trials commenced at Yanchep Police Station in Perth earlier this month.
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RocketDNA says its systems are designed for high endurance and extreme-weather resilience and “will be pivotal in the execution of airborne law enforcement tasks that range from surveillance and search and rescue operations to monitoring of large public gatherings and crime prevention”.
“This opportunity opens an entire new vertical for the company, incorporating our BVLOS and remote operations experience, to assist the WA Police in responding quickly and effectively to a wide range of law enforcement tasks across the state, reinforcing public safety initiatives, improving emergency response times and assisting in better allocation of resources within WAPOL,” said RocketDNA managing director Christopher Clark.
The trial program will progress through three phases in order to “thoroughly test the technology and its application in a range of weather conditions”, the WA government said; this includes obtaining permission from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to transition to beyond visual line of sight operations.
According to WA Police Minister Paul Papalia, as of mid-August, 80 flights had been completed as part of the Yanchep trial and showed success in simulated emergency situations such as missing persons and wanted-vehicle tracking.
“This is yet another example of the Western Australia Police Force leading the nation in adopting modern technology to enhance emergency response capability and make WA safer for everyone,” he said.
“Drone-in-a-box technology could mean WA Police have eyes on an incident before responding officers arrive. Having a bird’s-eye view of a situation in real-time could give police important intel they otherwise wouldn’t have had, allowing officers to make informed decisions on the ground.”
State police commissioner Col Blanch said the technology could help police officers to “make life-saving decisions faster”.
“WA Police officers face dangerous situations every day, so if I as commissioner can use innovative technology like this to keep them safe, it’s something I’m eager to investigate,” he said.
“This technology also allows us to securely live stream footage to other agencies such as DFES or St John WA during large scale emergency situations.”
