The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Clatakanie, employing deputies in the city and surrounding areas for service coverage.
The drones will be operated by assistants trained in situations where other means or resources are not available, or are less effective.
Members of Parliament can use a drone when a warrant has authorized its use, for search and rescue activities, for crimes involving urgent circumstances and for training.
Now, CCSO will use a new tool to improve this service in Clatskanie and across the county, adding to its list of available terrain options by launching a new program called Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
Commonly known as a drone, the program will be in effect in the coming weeks, according to a statement from the CCSO. The drones will be operated by assistants trained in situations where other means or resources are not available, or are less effective. The drones will eventually also be used by search and rescue teams.
“As technologies evolve and become more mainstream, we are evaluating what is and is not appropriate for use in our community,” said Sheriff Brian Pixley. “We believe drones are a great tool in the field, whether for law enforcement, search and rescue, or other authorized purposes.”
A drone provides the operator with a distant, wide, bird’s-eye view of a scene, a perspective that was previously not generally available to MPs. It allows first responders to make more informed decisions on the scene while reducing risk.
For example, instead of sending MPs into a dangerous situation, a drone can be flown, the area can be assessed and other decisions made without directly exposing MPs to that danger, according to the CCSO.
“While we are delighted to launch the program, we also want to acknowledge the public’s privacy concerns regarding the use of drones by law enforcement,” Pixley said. “Oregon law is specific to the circumstances in which we may or may not operate a drone. We need a legitimate reason to launch a drone for a criminal investigation.
Pixley said MPs can launch a drone when a warrant has authorized its use, for search and rescue, crimes involving emergency circumstances, for training and in a few additional circumstances. Flying a drone for law enforcement purposes simply to investigate criminal actions is prohibited by law.
“We take the privacy of citizens very seriously and have made it part of our drone policy,” Pixkey said.
Oregon law is only part of the equation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authority over US airspace and associated regulations. CCSO drone operators will be FAA approved remote pilots.
“This license is the same type that a commercial drone operator would obtain through the FAA,” Pixley said. Instead, we’ll be using the same licensing approach that the general public uses.
