{"id":51829,"date":"2025-08-07T10:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T10:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/51829\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T10:45:14","slug":"ontario-police-force-may-be-1st-in-canada-to-use-drones-for-some-911-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/51829\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario police force may be 1st in Canada to use drones for some 911 calls"},"content":{"rendered":"

A police force in one of Canada\u2019s most populated regions may soon be deploying drones as first responders for certain 911 calls.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Peel Regional Police<\/a> Deputy Chief Anthony Odoardi told Global News in a statement Wednesday the initiative would make them \u201cone of, if not the first police service in Canada\u201d to use drone technology in that capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe initiative aims to reduce response times and provide officers with real-time information before they arrive,\u201d Odoardi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile specific call types are still being finalized, drones may be used for in-progress incidents such as break and enters, missing vulnerable persons, or auto thefts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odoardi added the force is currently in the \u201cplanning and regulatory review phase\u201d and will eventually begin with a limited pilot. He did not offer a timeline of its implementation, but said the pilot will assess operation value, cost and community impact.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivacy protections, including a Privacy Impact Assessment and community consultations, will guide implementation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:20
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGlimpse into VPD\u2019s drone program\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Over the last several years, police forces across Canada have been increasingly utilizing drones.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n

Several police forces, including in Halton Region and Peel, currently utilize drones for search and rescue cases, collision reconstruction, tactical operations and disaster response.<\/p>\n

In June, an Ontario Provincial Police drone was crucial in finding a three-year-old Quebec girl<\/a> who was the subject of a frantic four-day search in both provinces.<\/p>\n

The girl, who was reported missing in Coteau-du-Lac, Que., was spotted four days later by the police drone sitting alone in a ditch along the side of a highway near St.\u202fAlbert, roughly 100 km from where she was reported missing.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Even in Vancouver \u2014 where the Vancouver Police Department\u2019s (VPD) 20 drones flew 1,826 missions in 2024 \u2014 drones have been described as critical to daily policing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe answer 700 calls for service a day and these pilots are incredibly busy,\u201d VPD Supt. Don Chapman told Global News in March.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tDubai brand chocolate recalled in Canada over salmonella risk\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tAir Canada flight attendants have voted to strike. What comes next?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

One of their drones was key in capturing murder suspect Brendan Colin McBride<\/a>, accused of killing a man in downtown Vancouver in September 2024 and of slicing off another person\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

McBride was found on Habitat Island by the police drone.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:55
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuspect charged in Vancouver stranger attacks\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Every mission requires a pilot and a spotter, with video streamed back to an operational command centre, the VPD said. But only five per cent of the recordings are preserved, and VPD told Global News those must be connected to a crime.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Odoardi reiterated to Global News Peel police\u2019s drones won\u2019t be used outside of their intended purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll drone operations will be managed by trained officers through our Aerial Support Unit and Community Safety Operations Centre and will not be used for general surveillance or utilize facial recognition technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to advancing technology in our service to better support our communities and equip officers with the tools needed to enhance emergency response efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 with files from Catherine Urquhart<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Crime
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A police force in one of Canada\u2019s most populated regions may soon be deploying drones as first responders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,2169,44,35244,35243],"class_list":{"0":"post-51829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-ontario-crime","13":"tag-peel-regional-police"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}