MPD drone program expansion planned; transparency concern rises

MPD drone program expansion planned

The Milwaukee Police Department wants to use $250,000 of federal forfeiture funds to expand its two-person drone pilot program.

MILWAUKEE - Fighting crime with eyes in the skies – the Milwaukee Police Department is looking to enhance public safety with drones.

What we know:

MPD is looking to expand its airborne assessment team.

Sgt. Christopher Boss said the team officially launched just before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last summer.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

He and another officer operate exterior and interior drones as seen in this video. They're used for crime scene management, crash reconstruction and missing persons cases, as well as keeping a watchful eye on protests and events.

"This is a tool we can use to make sure we’re all safer," Boss said. "Several weeks ago there was an incident, and it was the recording from this particular incident that prompted the district attorney to issue a certain type of charge."

Dig deeper:

MPD has six drones, but they want more. They want each district to be covered by one drone operator.

They want to use $250,000 of federal forfeiture funds to expand its two-person drone pilot program.

"We're hoping to train up to 18 pilots, 14 deployed at the districts and four deployed from specialized patrols," Boss said. "Prior to the application, every pilot will need to be certified by the FAA as a remote pilot." 

The particular models are valued at $15,000 each.

MPD said, in some capacity, the drones will serve as body cameras in the sky, with officers now frequently requesting assistance following suspects in high-speed chases.

"The majority of our patrol-led calls to date have involved vehicle pursuits," Boss said. "The end of the vehicle pursuit, reckless vehicle or someone wanted for some sort of crime, like an armed robbery, leads us on a pursuit and at the end of the pursuit, everybody runs."

The other side:

However, the purchase doesn't come without some concerns. The Milwaukee Fire & Police Commission discussed it in April.

"I think the public is like, ‘Big Brother is watching,’" said chair Miriam Horwitz.

"The public, also me, I have a lot of worries," vice chair Bree Spencer said. "I get it for water rescue. I’m very worried for things like protests."

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

What's next:

Boss said the drone will not have facial recognition.

They hope to have the drone team fully operational by the end of the year. Prior to doing so, the department said it will launch a transparency dashboard for people to see their flight paths.