- The NSW Government has announced the extension and expansion of PolAir remote, a trial of police drones that began in Moree in February.
- This trial has been conducted without transparency around how its effectiveness is being assessed. And this expansion comes before the trial’s three-month review by NSW Police has concluded.
- The JEC has concerns about the lack of transparency on police drone use and the lack of legal safeguards. We have raised these issues with the Minister for Police and NSW Police but have not received any meaningful response.
Quotes from Jonathan Hall Spence, Principal Solicitor at the Justice and Equity Centre:
‘We’re concerned to see the expansion of this trial when police still haven’t explained how drones are being deployed, when and where they’re recording footage, or how that footage is being used and stored.
‘The drones are being operated by police officers 600km away at Bankstown Airport. Are these drones filming people on private property? Are police officers viewing footage of people in their homes without their knowledge? We just don’t know – and that’s deeply troubling.
‘The trial is being expanded before there’s any evidence that drones are an effective tool for crime detection or prevention. And this is happening without police finishing their own evaluation – let alone releasing that evaluation for expert and community input.
‘We’ve written to the Minister for Police and the NSW Police Aviation Command, expressing our concern about the lack of clarity about drone use and the protection of people’s rights. We told them there needs to be proper examination of police use of this technology and whether existing legislation and safeguards are fit for purpose.
‘Police and government must develop binding policies on drone use and share them publicly, to show efforts are being made to protect privacy. But there’s no indication the NSW Government has considered this before making this expansion announcement.’
Jonathan is available for further comment.
Media contact:
Media and Communications Manager, Dan Buhagiar: 0478 739 280
