Michigan First in Nation OK'd for Statewide Use of Police Drone

The Aeryon SkyRanger captures hundreds of overlapping pictures, then stitches them together in a three-dimensional image. (Photo via Aeyron SkyRanger)

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The Michigan State Police is the first statewide police agency in the county to win approval to use drones in accident and crime scene investigations.

The MSP’s aviation unit bought the Aeryon SkyRanger in September 2013, but didn’t get the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the Unmanned Aircraft System until Monday, The Detroit News reports.

The FAA certification allows Michigan police to assist in-state jurisdictions needing drone support. Among the operations a drone might support are search-and-rescue missions,and crime scene and crash investigations.

The Aeryon SkyRanger is equipped with sophisticated technology that takes hundreds of overlapping photos and stitches them together in a three-dimensional map an official with the MSP’s aviation division predicts will “change how we do law enforcement.”

“The quicker we can get accidents cleared, to me that’s a game changer for how we do law enforcement,” 1st. Lt. Chris Bush, the MSP’s commander of field support and aviation, told The Detroit News.

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The drone was deployed in a test earlier this month to collect both video and photographs as part of a fire investigation near Jenison.

Police said the use of a drone would have been helpful in the investigation of a massive pileup on Interstate 94 earlier this winter. Choppers weren’t able to fly because due to billowing black smoke and weather conditions.

“That would have been so useful,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, commander of the Michigan State Police.

Colin Brooks, a senior research scientist at Michigan Technology Research Institute told WOOD-TV, the use of drones could potentially save or free up money to deploy officers elsewhere.

“You’re getting that bird’s eye view – quickly, safely and efficiently,” Brooks said.

Michigan ACLU: “No Qualms”

But civil libertarians have voiced privacy concerns as more police agencies seek permission to use domestic drones. Arguing routine aerial surveillance would profoundly change the character of American life, the American Civil Liberties Union has called for, among other things, strict limits on the deployment of drones and data retention, and said under no circumstances should they be equipped with lethal or non-lethal weapons.

The ACLU-Michigan worked with state police on the policies and is generally comfortable with the guidelines, though a spokesperson told WOOD-TV enforcement will be difficult.

“We have no qualms really with the state police,” said Shelli Weisberg, legislative affairs director for the ACLU of Michigan. “We understand it’s a good tool for them to use for accident reconstruction.”