Unmanned Systems Integration

Unmanned systems have rapidly gained popularity over the last ten years, and although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has already announced plans to integrate unmanned aerial systems in the national airspace (NAS), progress seems to have slowed down to a crawl. The reason that the integration of unmanned systems is more challenging than originally thought is due to controversial issues, specifically the issue of privacy. In order to ensure a smooth integration and implementation of unmanned systems in within known limits, certain issues will need to be addressed. For the purpose of simplicity this post will discuss the implementation of law enforcement unmanned aerial systems.

A seamless transition would need to address multiple hot topics, specially the privacy, ethical, safety, and lost link or lost of control implications. Due to the amount of negative publicity, it is important to remember that getting people to be receptive to your ideas and points of view can be a lot more difficult than we might think.

The privacy issue is perhaps one of the most widely discussed subjects in regards to the integration of unmanned systems within the community. Because privacy is the most important right that we have as Americans, it is important for each company to specifically address the issue. Enact rules within the company, that illegal violation of privacy would not be tolerated. Law enforcement UAS can initially seem intimidating, but all police departments using drones should guarantee the community that drones will only specifically track areas where criminal activities is highly probable.

The topic of ethics can be directly tied to the issue of privacy. Every police department should include a code of ethics. Police department should continue to enforce the law and remain unbiased and free of prejudice and only prosecute those people who are actively involved in criminal activity. Assumptions should never be made based on race, or ethnic background.

When it comes to safety, law enforcement unmanned aerial systems should do what the law enforcement mission dictates; to ensure the safety of every citizen. Law enforcement unmanned aerial systems should be able to block a portion of working airspace to ensure that they can operate freely and have the flexibility to conduct its mission in a safe manner. Due to the nature of the mission, I believe law enforcement drones should be carefully inspected before and after flights by an expert in the system.

Finally, lost link situations could pose a threat to other people or aircraft. Fortunately, lost link conditions are being addressed  and systems are now equipped with a return home feature in case of lost link. Systems are also equipped with multiple sense and avoid sensors that allow it to maneuver away from obstacles while returning to the launch point.

The integration and implementation of unmanned aerial systems for law enforcement purposes should not create skepticism if a solid plan that offers transparency is developed and shared with the community. Once people begin to see positive results due to the benefits offered by unmanned aerial systems, the community will be more receptive.