ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. — Arlington County is seeking the public’s input and feedback on draft policies regulating the training, operations, and oversight of their use of drones.
The program is actively being developed by the Arlington County Fire Department, Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, and Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management.
According to county officials, the drone program is being designed to “enhance Arlington County’s ability to respond to public safety and emergency incidents through the deployment of remotely operated aircraft.”
The drone, or UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), program, is designed to support a variety of government mission types, including search and rescue, pre- and post-disaster damage assessments, crash and crime scene reconstruction, fire/emergency incident management, special event situation awareness, hazardous materials response, and technical rescues.
The draft policies for the program include how one would be trained to participate in a UAS deployment, an outline of operation details on how flights will be documented such as what time the flight is, the reason for the flight, etc., and an in-depth explanation on what is done with the digital evidence collected on the flight, as well as oversight, and maintenance of the UAS.
According to a press release, these policies were drafted after a thorough review and recommendations by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and policies of police departments across the country with established UAS programs.
To read the drafts click on the links below:
Arlington County plans to implement the UAS program in early 2024 following the review and the incorporation of community feedback on the draft policies.
To provide comments, click here by Jan. 1, 2024. Questions related to the draft policies can be emailed to ACPDpolicy@arlingtonva.us.