The use of civilian quadrocopters in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies: an overview of foreign experience

Gonta Semen Nikolaevich Student; Department of Theory of Law and State, History and Philosophy; Sochi State University 354000, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Sochi, ul. Plastunskaya, 94 rudolf.diesel.bmw@gmail.com Other publications by this author     Plyakich Manushak Nazaretovna PhD in Sociology Associate Professor; Department of Theory of Law and State, History and Philosophy; Sochi State University 354000, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Sochi, ul. Plastunskaya, 94 Mb.sgu@mail.ru

Malkova Yuliya Aleksandrovna PhD in History Associate Professor; Department of Theory of Law and State, History and Philosophy; Sochi State University 354000, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Sochi, ul. Plastunskaya, 94 malkov01@rambler.ru

Introduction

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that currently the use of quadrocopters in various fields of work is increasing every year. Recently, the main reason for the increasing attention to civilian quadrocopters (drones) is their unexpectedly successful use in various international conflicts. However, it is obvious that the use of civilian quadrocopters significantly goes beyond combat operations, which is quite logical, since they were originally created purely for peaceful purposes.

Based on this, in this article, the authors propose to highlight the topic of the use of civilian quadrocopters in the official activities of various law enforcement agencies, since the experience of such use of quadrocopters is already widely represented in foreign countries, but in modern Russian realities it is practically not represented by anything.

The purpose of the study is to review and analyze the foreign experience of using civilian quadrocopters in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies.

This article is an attempt by the authors to study in detail the theory of the use of civilian quadrocopters in the work of law enforcement agencies in general and the practical use of quadrocopters in the work of law enforcement agencies of foreign countries in particular.

Materials and methods of research

The methodology of this work is determined directly by the research topic and includes general scientific research methods: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, content analysis method. Also, the authors use other methods in their work, namely: historical-genetic and narrative research methods.

The bibliographic base of this work consists of current research by domestic and foreign authors, which are related to the topic of drones, quadrocopters and their use in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies of foreign countries.

The photographic materials used in this work to illustrate the process of using quadrocopters in police work were taken from official releases and reports of police and law enforcement agencies in various countries (namely: the Israeli Traffic Police, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, the San Antonio Police Department and the Dallas Police Department). All images used in this article are photocitates, and under each illustration there is a link to the original source.

Discussion

Currently, there are a number of publications in the Russian scientific community devoted to various aspects of the topic of quadrocopters and UAVs, from the study of theoretical issues ^{[1, 2, 3]} to the analysis of their application in the military sphere ^{[4, 5, 6]}. However, a limited number of studies have been devoted to the study of the use of quadrocopters in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies. Among these, we highlight the works of: E. V. Spravtseva ^[7], K. V. Baryshnikov and M. E. Chervyakova ^[8], I. V. Egoshin and V. N. Konstantinov ^[9], as well as the work of a team of authors ^[10].

For a comprehensive consideration of the topic, it is also worth mentioning a number of foreign publications that are devoted to the use of quadrocopters in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies. Among these, we note: the work of European authors B. Engberds and E. Gillissen ^[11], articles by authors from the USA Kyle Stelmak ^[12] and Christian Einmark ^[13], research by Swiss author Francisco Clauser ^[14] and Norwegian researcher Jenny Maria Lundgaard ^[15], an article by Chinese author Qi Zhao ^[16], and also the work of a team of authors from the UK ^[17].

The results of the study

Currently, the United States is the undisputed leader among foreign countries in terms of the experience of using quadrocopters in the official activities of law enforcement agencies and departments. Based on this, this article will focus specifically on considering their experience in this matter. The topic of drones in the service of law enforcement agencies is not new, however, the more or less widespread introduction of such special means into the work of US law enforcement officers, as noted in the report of the Office of Public Police Services of the US Department of Justice, began in 2016 ^{[18, p. 15]}.

Note that if at the time of 2017, 347 agencies across the United States used quadrocopters in their activities, then by 2020 their number had reached 1,578 agencies (see Table 1).

Table 1. Statistics on the use of quadrocopters by various US law enforcement agencies in their official activities (as of March 2020).

Source: compiled by the authors based on Dronefly data ^[19].

We will also pay attention to the cases in which quadrocopters can be used most often and effectively. For this, let's turn to the data from the same report of the US Department of Justice (see Table 2).

Table 2. The possibilities of using quadrocopters in various situations by US law enforcement agencies.

Source: compiled by the authors based on data from the report of the US Department of Justice ^[18].

Thus, from the data in the table above, it can be seen that quadrocopters can cover a wide range of needs not only of police and law enforcement agencies, but also of other agencies that deal with public safety.

For a broad understanding of the issue, it is also worth giving statistics on drone manufacturers, since this market is currently booming, for which we turn to the data of the Dronefly resource (see Table 3).

Table 3. Statistics of quadrocopters used by various US law enforcement agencies by manufacturing companies.

Source: compiled by the authors based on Dronefly data ^[19].

Thus, from the data in the table above, it can be seen that the vast majority of the market for quadrocopters used by US law enforcement agencies is occupied by Chinese companies (namely, DJI, the leader of the global drone market ^{[5, p. 81]}).

Next, let's look at specific examples of the use of quadrocopters in various situations of law enforcement agencies, using examples mainly of the US police, as well as Israel. The use in this study of examples of the use of quadrocopters in the official activities of police officers from the United States is relevant for several reasons.

Among which is the aforementioned widespread use of such special tools in official activities, as well as the availability of detailed video materials and reports, since such videos in cases of the use of deadly force by US law enforcement agencies (and often in such cases the quadrocopters considered in this work are used) are full-fledged evidence in the case and are mandatory for public disclosure ^[20].

The use of quadrocopters in the work of the traffic police.

The first and, perhaps, the most obvious scope of application of quadrocopters in the official activities of the police is road transport. And here, in addition to the above-mentioned possibility of reconstructing traffic accidents using drones, it is also worth noting another possibility, namely the detection of violations of traffic rules by drivers using quadrocopters.

So, as an illustration, let's look at a video from 2021, when the Israeli Traffic Police Department showed footage of traffic police squads using civilian quadrocopters. The footage shows how two cars violated traffic rules (SDA) when bypassing traffic jams in the oncoming lane. These violations were recorded in real time by the drone operator, who immediately transmitted the information to police officers on motorcycles, who stopped the vehicles. There was also a second illustrative case when a white van overtook in the oncoming lane, which was also recorded using a drone, after which the driver of the car was stopped by police officers at the nearest checkpoint (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Video recording of traffic violations (overtaking in the oncoming lane) using a quadcopter by Israeli police.

Source: Israel Traffic Police Department.

It is worth noting here that such an experience of using quadrocopters also takes place in Russia. So, in the same year 2021, the media reported that employees of the State Road Safety Inspectorate (traffic police) used quadrocopters to identify traffic violations in 17 regions of our country ^[21]. And the first attempts to use quadrocopters in the traffic police were carried out in the Stavropol Territory back in 2017 ^[7]. However, we note that such use of quadrocopters is not yet widespread, since at the moment the technical capabilities of drones do not allow them to stay in the air for a long time, which means that their use time is limited depending on the model of the quadcopter (usually from 20 to 40 minutes).

Next, we will look at less obvious cases in which the use of quadrocopters seems to be very effective and it is in these sections that examples from the work of US law enforcement agencies will be considered.

The use of quadrocopters in difficult and non-standard working conditions.

Due to the specifics of the work of the police and other law enforcement agencies in the United States, in their work (as in general, police officers around the world) there are sometimes cases requiring non-standard solutions. To illustrate the use of quadrocopters in such situations, let's give an example of one of the cases that occurred in Volusia County, Florida.

On January 20, 2021, an assistant to the sheriff's office, while on duty, noticed a man with a backpack riding a bicycle towards a closed park. After demanding to stop, the man threw his bike and backpack and disappeared. In an abandoned backpack, a sheriff's deputy found bundles of methamphetamine, which was the reason for the arrest. It should be noted that at the time of the incident it was already evening and therefore, when the suspect disappeared into the dense forest of the park, it was not only impossible, but also dangerous to find him alone without special equipment in complete darkness. Therefore, the deputy sheriff called the department's air response team, which lifted a quadcopter into the air and began searching for the suspect. Who was soon discovered in the thicket of the park using a thermal imager (Figure 2 – the search area is marked in red, the blue arrow indicates the hiding place of the suspect), and then was arrested.

Figure 2. Search for a suspect using a quadcopter at night in complete darkness.

Source: Volusia County Sheriff's Office, Florida ^[22].

Thus, using a conventional quadcopter, sheriff's deputies managed not only to locate the suspect in a dense forest area in complete darkness, but also to safely arrest him, coordinating the actions of law enforcement officers on the ground from the air.

Note, however, that the use of such special equipment is possible mainly in good weather conditions (if we mean civilian models of quadrocopters), but even with such reservations, we can say that an ordinary quadcopter is an effective and indispensable tool in non-standard situations, as shown by the above example.

The use of quadrocopters in assault operations by special units of law enforcement agencies.

In this section, we will consider the most interesting (according to the authors) possibilities of using quadrocopters, namely the use of police drones in power and assault operations by various special forces of the police or other departments. Before directly considering specific cases, we note that in US law enforcement agencies, quadrocopters are actively used mainly by special groups, be it SWAT special forces, various internal structures (like the "Fugitive Unit" of the Dallas police from the last example), airmobile groups (from the example of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office), etc. Such a technique is usually not found among ordinary patrol policemen.

So, let's consider one of the cases of using quadrocopters in assault operations from Sacramento County, California. On January 10, 2024, patrolmen from the county Sheriff's office were sent to a call to one of the residential complexes, where it was reported that one of the residents of this complex opened fire indiscriminately from his apartment.

After the arrival of law enforcement officers, the perimeter of the house was cordoned off and negotiations with the shooter began, which were unsuccessful. After throwing a gas grenade into the shooter's apartment, he was forced to go outside, where a shootout ensued between him and the special forces of the sheriff's office, during which he was eliminated. Interestingly, with these actions to neutralize the criminal, a drone hung in the air, which monitored the shooter's movements in real time and provided tactical support to law enforcement officers (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Tactical support of the police capture group using a quadcopter at night.

Source: Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, California ^[23].

Thus, law enforcement officers from a special unit, using a conventional quadcopter, provided themselves with a greater operational overview of the shooter's movements, at night.

The next case considered occurred in the city of San Antonio, Texas. On March 28, 2023, the police of the city department were sent to a shooting call, where the victim reported that his creditor had shot at him because of an unpaid debt and fled. Later, the suspect was found near his house, after which he opened fire on law enforcement officers with an AR-15 automatic rifle. After the arrival of additional police squads, the shooter was blocked, but his capture was complicated by the distance between him and the police, as well as cars left on the road (from which the shooter made an improvised shelter) and vegetation on the site. Therefore, to control the position of the suspect, a quadcopter was lifted into the sky, with which law enforcement officers controlled the movements and position of the shooter (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Control of the position of a suspect armed with an automatic rifle using a quadcopter.

Source: San Antonio Police Department, Texas ^[24].

Some time after the shooting began and the drone was lifted into the sky, a police officer in an advantageous position was able to neutralize the suspect with a single shot from a rifle, then after using the same drone, the officers made sure that the shooter no longer posed a danger, he was arrested.

Thus, law enforcement officers with the help of a quadcopter were able not only to control the movement of an armed suspect, but also to further verify the possibility of his safe arrest.

Another case discussed below occurred in another Texas city, Dallas. On January 25, 2023, the soldiers of the special police unit "Fugitive Unit" who were on assignment received an orientation that a suspect in serious crimes was hiding in the area of their location. After a short search, at least 2 drones were lifted into the sky by special forces soldiers, with the help of which it was possible to detect the suspect sitting in the car sitting in the car (Figure 5).

Figure 5. The use of a quadcopter to establish the location of the suspect and the subsequent escort of the detention.

Source: Dallas, Texas Police Department ^[25].

It is worth noting here that the soldiers of the special forces moved on unmarked vehicles, so the detection of a suspect using a drone solved the problem of detecting law enforcement officers by a suspect before the immediate start of the arrest. Also, it was with the help of a quadcopter that it was possible to consider the presence of a pistol in the suspect's hands. Later, after the encirclement of the suspect's car, a shootout ensued, during which the suspect was neutralized.

Thus, in this example, law enforcement officers using a drone were able not only to find a moment to block the suspect's car, but also to further examine the weapon in his hands, which may have saved the lives of law enforcement officers.

Conclusion

Thus, based on the conducted research, it can be concluded that currently civilian quadrocopters are quite effective and useful tools used in the official activities of law enforcement agencies in the United States and other countries. The scope of drones in the police has begun its gradual introduction and has already become a full-fledged part of the work of public security agencies.

It should also be noted that the possibilities of using quadrocopters in the official activities of the police and other law enforcement agencies are limited only by the creative abilities of the people using them and, as can be seen from the examples considered in this study, drones can be successfully used both in ordinary surveillance situations (road safety) and in specific and difficult working conditions of law enforcement officers (actions at night, conducting assault operations, detaining dangerous criminals, etc.).

The experience of the examples of the use of quadrocopters in the work of law enforcement agencies of foreign countries analyzed in this work can be successfully applied in the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation. Not only in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), but also in the work of special forces of the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops (Rosgvardiya), the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), the Federal Security Service (FSO), search structures of the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and elimination of consequences of natural Disasters (Ministry of Emergency Situations), as well as the Border Service of the FSB. Since the range of possible applications of civilian quadrocopters covers all areas covered by the above-mentioned departments.