Livermore Falls Police Chief Abe Haroon, left, talks April 17 about using money in his budget to purchase a drone and training officers and firefighters to use it. Town Manager Carrie Castonguay is at right. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

LIVERMORE FALLS — The Police Department will purchase a drone and train town employees on its use to enhance public safety and emergency response capabilities. Selectmen approved spending about $11,500 from the department’s budget.

Police Chief Abe Haroon proposed two drone options at the board’s meeting last week. One was a third generation DJI Mavic 3T Enterprise which has no IP rating at a cost of $7,834, including all accessories. The other was a fourth generation DJI Matrice 4T Enterprise with an IP55 rating and a total cost of $9,508. Training five police officers and a member of the fire department is estimated to cost about $2,000, he noted.

According to the website of KDE Direct, an IP rating, or ingress protection rating, is a laboratory-certified industrial rating for a piece of electronic equipment or an enclosure for electrical equipment, used to explain the degree of protection provided against intrusion of debris and water.

Haroon said he wanted to implement a drone program using money in his budget this year that wasn’t spent due to low staffing levels and other things.

“Drone technology has come down (in cost) quite a bit,” he said. “The devices that I’m looking at now about 10 years ago were $35,000, $38,000 devices.”

A drone operator for more than a decade, Haroon said he has a personal drone that was used to locate a missing child a few years ago.

“This device is more advanced because of the thermal imaging on it so it will be used day and night,” he said. “During my tenure here in Livermore Falls, believe it or not, we have had several escapes where people ran into the woods.”

A drone could monitor officers and events, take aerial images of accidents and assist during crimes, Haroon stated. During structure fires the thermal imaging would determine if nearby structures are getting hot enough to ignite or start to melt, which will help guide firefighters, he said. It adds job enrichment, he noted.

Haroon acknowledged the community might have some concerns about it being used to spy, monitor or look at property.

“Maine law does not allow for that,” he stressed. “If we were to look at a specific property we would have to have a warrant to do that.”

The police department would partner with the fire department, have one or two firefighters trained as pilots, Haroon said. He would like the drone to be out, used pretty much all the time.

Technology for the third generation model is about five years old, he stated. The other model has the newest technology available, can be flown in some inclement weather while the other one can’t have any type of moisture at all, he noted. “Both are amazing pieces of equipment,” he said.

Newer drones have a life span of five years, maybe longer depending on flight time, he noted. When asked, he estimated it would see 60 hours of actual use in a year.

A policy would have to be drawn up regarding drone usage, Haroon said.

“The device is low maintenance, we wouldn’t have to do oil changes, things like that,” he stated. “The down side is once we have it, we have it. Maybe a year from now we may need another device.”

Selectman Bruce Peary felt one benefit not mentioned but could be very important is using it as a crime deterrent.

“If certain elements of the town, who might be inspired to do something wrong, knew that they could be watched or followed or found with a drone, then it would be a deterrent,” he said. “It could very easily cause them not to do what they think they can get away with.”

Selectman Jim Long asked if any surrounding communities had drones.

“Androscoggin County is the closest organization we can utilize that resource,” Haroon said. He thought Livermore Falls would be the only nearby town with a drone, and that Franklin County has one.

Chair William Kenniston asked how it works if a criminal flees onto somebody’s property and the drone has to fly over their property in pursuit.

“That falls within the hot pursuit so that would allow us, because we’re not looking for anything in particular on that person’s property, other than that person,” Haroon replied. “And I think most members in the community are going to be 100% okay.”

A drone could help solve some cases, find some people, Kenniston said. It would also keep officers safer, he noted.

If it finds one person it is worth it, Haroon stated.

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