The Challenges facing a DFR program for the Pearland Police Department.

In part two of his article from the March edition, Brandon Karr discusses the challenges of establishing Pearland's Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program.

FAA Authorizations

The greatest hurdle to navigate is gaining the approvals from the FAA to conduct DFR operations. To conduct DFR operations, approvals are needed for flights over people, airspace authorizations, and flights beyond visual line of sight. Operations beyond visual line of sight are the hardest authorization to obtain due to the inherent risks associated with not being able to observe the drone nor the airspace around its operations. After multiple meetings with the FAA, I am confident that the safety case and concept of operations to be presented are comprehensive enough to obtain the authorizations.

Legal Concerns

When deploying any type of camera system to monitor public operations, privacy should always be a concern. As with any program, transparency is key to ensuring the citizens of Pearland's privacy is not being violated. It is the City of Pearland Police Department's policy that all flights are in accordance with Federal and State laws and the logs of those flights are readily available for public review via the Pearland Police Department TXGC 423 report every odd year. The department policy also articulates retention procedures for any data that may be collected. Finally, social media pressers will be distributed highlighting its use and limitations. This will help reduce misinformation and concerns of the DFR program.

Logistics

One challenge that each launch site will face is the logistical procedures to ensure ongoing DFR operations. For example, after each flight fully charged batteries will need to be installed into the drone to ensure ample flight time for each deployment. The logistical challenges would need to be manned until a 'drone in a box' solution is accessible. Those positions could be tasked to personnel manning the launch locations or could be a new part/full time position. Tasks as a logistics technician would include but not limited to minor troubleshooting, battery replacements, launch location safety checks, etc.

Financial

The financial impact of the traditional DFR program is approximately $100,000 per year per launch site. We are trying to obtain the same benefits at a much lower cost per year per site. This will make the DFR program scalable and accessible for every agency nationwide, so long as they follow the same pathways we create.

DroneSense

DroneSense's piloting program allows for remote piloting of the aircraft to be used for DFR across the City. This system will allow for not only the remote piloting of the systems but also provide the live feeds of those systems for enhanced situational awareness.

Iris Automation

Iris Automation Casia G is an AI integrated camera system that autonomously scans airspace, detects aircraft, and notifies the remote pilots of the aircraft's location and if it is a threat to the DFR operations. This type of airspace deconfliction is a requirement of the DFR program to ensure safe airspace operations.

Whitefox

Whitefox Stratus Drone Detection System instantly creates a virtual bubble of Protection to track drones and perform risk assessment in real-time. This will help ensure the Pearland DFR systems will not have an incursion while in flight from non-participating drones in the same area. This type of airspace deconfliction is a requirement of the DFR program to ensure safe airspace operations.

Equipment

The flight system DroneSense is currently supporting for DFR is the DJI M300 system. The M300 system is one of the most advanced drone platforms on the market today. This system has routine flight times of 30 minutes. It also has long range zoom and thermal capabilities. This will provide the best opportunity to take advantage of its capabilities to reduce flight time, provide actionable intel through its camera systems, and is weather resistant.

Brandon Karr

Brandon Karr is a recognized expert in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for public safety applications. He currently works as the Drone as First Responder Solutions Engineer for Drone Sense and previously served as a police officer, chief pilot, UAS program coordinator, and night shift patrolman for the Pearland Police Department.

Brandon is also a committee member on two subcommittees for the State of Texas, contributing his expertise to the implementation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for major disasters or incidents. He is an international sUAS SME for public safety applications and a board member for LEDA and DRONERESPONDERS. Brandon's contributions have been pivotal in shaping the use of UAS technology for public safety and emergency response.