After Final Hearing, Worcester Police Drone Heads To City Council

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester city council subcommittee on Wednesday held its final hearing over the police department's move to acquire a drone. Now the issue will go to the full city council for a vote of support.

Wednesday's hearing in the Standing Committee on Public Safety focused on the police department's policy on drone use. Deputy Chief Paul Saucier answered questions about the policy, which is still in draft form. Councilors have been calling for a policy on drone use since the issue first came up in early April.

Saucier answered questions focusing on two main areas: drone use around homeless residents, and how the drone might impact the civil rights of city residents.

The draft policy says the drone would not be used in places where residents have a "reasonable expectation of privacy," like inside homes. But the draft policy also says the drone can be used on private property if police have a warrant or permission of the property owner — or under a variety of "exigent circumstances." Those include,"search and rescue missions, tactical missions, crash scenes, crime scenes, fire scenes, hazmat scenes and natural disasters," the draft policy says.

Worcester police also told the committee drone video records will be destroyed within 30 days, unless the videos are part of a larger criminal investigation. State records regulations do allow surveillance videos to be destroyed one month after they are created. Police also promised to regularly publish drone flight plans online, and publish an annual report on drone use.

RELATED: Outcry Over Worcester Police Drone Program At First Public Hearing

One key point of contention has been the use of a drone around homeless people. A previous police memo highlighted how a drone could be used to assist the Quality of Life task force — a team of city employees who interact with the homeless — looking for encampments. The latest version of the policy does not mention the homeless, and Saucier said that the previous memo mentioning them was overemphasized.

"We were simply saying that if somebody needed assistance in an area that was not an area you could get to on foot, then we could assist with that aspect with a drone," he said.

At a May 10 city council meeting, District 3 Councilor George Russell questioned Chief Steven Sargent about drone use around the homeless. Sargent said police could add a section to the policy to ban using the drone to find or follow the homeless.

"We would certainly put language in there that would protect against that," the chief said during the meeting.

Saucier said at Wednesday's meeting that the policy would not include such a specific exemption. As an example, Saucier said police might need to use the drone to search for homeless camps if there was a brush fire near one.

"You can't be so specific that you're handcuffed," he said.

The draft drone policy police have submitted to councilors was based on existing policies created by state police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (CEMLEC). Saucier said the ACLU sent a letter to Worcester police asking for certain provisions in the policy, and that police had met them.

"It just so happens our policy covered everything they were asking," he said.

Wednesday's meeting ended with the three-member committee — which includes Chair Kate Toomey, At-Large Councilor Donna Colorio and District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera — agreeing to send the drone issue to the full city council as a resolution. City Attorney Michael Traynor has said previously that councilors do not have to vote on the drone since the decision to buy one is up to the city manager.