ALBANY — Albany Police are purchasing two drones, becoming the first urban police department in the Capital Region to utilize the technology.

The department got a $100,000 state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services grant to pay for the two devices, said Chief Eric Hawkins.

“It’s a really critical progression of technology in law enforcement,” he said

The two drones will cost approximately $52,000 and will be equipped with infrared cameras. One will be meant to fly indoors, the other meant for outdoor use. It was not immediately clear what the remainder of the grant would go toward.

Police departments have increasingly viewed the use of drones as a cheaper and safer surveillance-and-search method. In May 2018, Bard College completed a survey that estimated nearly 1,000 police and fire departments across the U.S. had drones.

Last year State Police launched a fleet of 18 drones.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Department has had a drone for several years and multiple agencies have requested its use in the past. Last winter, the sheriff’s drone was deployed after ice jams caused flooding in the Schenectady and Rotterdam area. The drone was also used to survey the Hudson River when a cruise ship last month hit the train bridge between Albany and Rensselaer.

The New York City Police Department said it would start a fleet of 14 drones in December 2018.

In all cases, departments with drones have been pressured to balance privacy and surveillance concerns.

Those apprehensions are heightened in urban areas where people are closely concentrated, increasing the potential of unwarranted searches, according to privacy advocates.

Albany police should be open to community input and ensure transparency in any drone use policies they develop, said Melanie Trimble, the Capital Region Chapter director for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“We need to be really clear on what the drones are going to be used for,” she said. “It’s a really big concern, drones are a very powerful law enforcement tool.”

The department's policy should also require a warrant before police use the drones for searches, she said.

Another issue is storing footage. If the footage doesn’t contain any evidence or a crime or information related to an investigation, it should be deleted in a timely manner, she said.

Hawkins said he understood the potential for community concerns and that the department is planning a forum with the Albany Community Police Advisory Committee to hear residents’ questions and concerns.

The department is developing a preliminary policy on how it will use the drones, Hawkins said. One officer is already trained in drone use and the department is planning to certify others.

Hawkins said the drones would typically be deployed for search and rescues, accident reconstruction and to help police monitor large crowds at public events.

Another possible situation is using the drones to assess threats. Last year, Albany police spent several hours outside a home, believing that a man with a gun had barricaded himself inside. Later, police determined the man had slipped out the back.

The department’s storage policy will likely be similar to its policy on body camera footage, which is stored for 30 days and then deleted unless it is part of an investigation, Hawkins said.

Hawkins said Albany’s drones would not be armed.

Armed police drones have been a particularly touchy issue as more law enforcement agencies have purchase drones. Only one state, North Dakota, allows for armed police drones and limits the drones’ weaponry to stun gun-style devices. In 2017 Connecticut considered a bill that would allow for fully armed police drones, but the bill stalled and died in the state legislature.