Aspen Police makes gains through new drone program

The Aspen Police Department has gained a bird’s eye perspective on the city. 

Five months into its new drone program, the department has made strides to manage large crowds, search for missing persons, and provide visual service in areas where human presence is impossible.

“The amazing thing about this program is it’s just allowing us to have a perspective that we normally wouldn’t have,” said Aspen Police Officer Lee Malik, who pilots the drones. “And that creates a safer environment for us and those that we’re interacting with.”

Along with Malik, Braulio Jerez and Dave Paschal are the other two department drone pilots. 

The department joined Pitkin County, Snowmass, and Basalt when it obtained drone capability this past November. Drone programs are common in police departments across the country, according to Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn. 

“It’s just adding to our capabilities,” Linn said.

The department employs two drones, a Raptor T, which cost $14,900 for the full setup, and a DJI Avata 2, which cost $1,299. Both drones have unique skill sets. The Raptor T, nicknamed by the department “Gamora” after the galactic comic character, can fly up to 32 miles per hour and is equipped with thermal imagery and a long-range zoom lens. Flown with a videogame-like controller, the drone’s lens can catch an image inside the Aspen Mountain gondola from the distance of the police department, Malik said.

The department used the drone to aid the Secret Service in the week following Christmas, helping them set up a visual perimeter around an Aspen residence where physical presence lacked, Malik said. 

“It does have thermal imaging, so it was great to be able to see in the woods,” Malik said. 

The department also flew it at February’s Palm Tree Festival in downtown Aspen, which helped mitigate physical altercations in the crowd, Malik said. The drone’s video footage of altercations was streamed to the pilot and the incident command team, who were able to give direction to police in the crowd.

“With a thick crowd, it’s hard to see what’s going on,” Malik said. “So we were actually able to put eyes and be able to tell them clothing descriptions, and things like that, to get them to the right spot.”

To decrease the risk of injury should a drone fall, the drones cannot hover directly over crowds, Malik said.

He added that the drone’s thermal imaging allowed police to identify people jumping the venue fence in the dark.

The Avata 2, still awaiting its department nickname, is smaller and nimbler than Gamora. It can navigate through tight indoor and outdoor spaces, like doorways or culverts. The pilot controls the drone with a joystick and headset, seeing through the perspective of the drone camera.

Malik said it’s ideal for “barricade” situations, where an individual has barricaded themselves in a residence. Rather than send in a SWAT team, officers can first fly the drone inside and identify if a suspect is armed or a threat. 

“The Raptor is great at altitude, the Avata is great at low-level flight and looking in through things,” Malik said.

Both drones operate under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, different from rules restricting certain law enforcement actions. For example, a police officer cannot peer over a fence into private property if they cannot already see over it, unless they have a warrant. A drone, on the other hand, can hover and video into a backyard, as long as they are not directly over the property, Malik said.

He did note that Aspen Police would never use drones for that purpose without exigency, such as looking for at risk or missing persons.

“We’re really not looking to invade people’s privacy,” he said.

Drones must also keep to a certain altitude, depending on the airspace and conditions, according to FAA regulations. Typically, they cannot fly higher than 400 feet, 100 feet below the 500-foot minimum altitude restriction of planes and aircrafts. But because Aspen is beneath Class D airspace due to its proximity to the airport, the drones are restricted to a 100-foot limit over the main part of the city and a 50-foot limit over the West End, Malik said.

Under a low ceiling of clouds, drones must have 3.5 miles of visibility and must maintain a distance of 1,000 feet from clouds if level with them.

Malik said the department next plans to use the drones on Fourth of July and at Buttermilk’s Up in the Sky Music Festival in August.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.