Don Head, the commissioner of Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), told an anti-drone conference earlier this month in the United Kingdom that drones pose health, safety and security risks for correctional environments.

He also said the unmanned aerial vehicles present opportunities for enhancing the overall correctional response to the needs of offenders, staff, victims and communities.

Head’s presentation was shared with the Whig-Standard on Friday, a sign of more transparency at the CSC this year. In the past, CSC would not comment on drone drops or their strategies to combat them but at the same time has worked closely trying to develop a strategy to combat them with the other law enforcement partners such as police departments, border services, intelligence agencies vendors, academia, communities and Union of Canadian Correctional Officers among others.

"CSC is currently partnered with the National Research Council and has embarked on a collaborative investigation of the commercial technologies for the detection of drones," Head, who has been commissioner since 2008, said.

But he also told the conference that there has been no exploration or formal discussion about the potential threat that the drone technology might pose in a correctional environment.

"All correctional service jurisdictions are currently struggling with this phenomenon and expending resources to find solutions." he said.

Head spoke during Day 2 of the Countering Drones conference, which was held Dec. 6 to 8 in London, England.

The conference was organized by Defence IQ, a website for news, commentary and analysis on global defence and military-related topics.

The conference was one of many military and security conferences Defence IQ organizes every year. It addressed the growing popularity of drones and the security and safety threat that the technology presents national infrastructures such as airports and shipping ports, homeland security and other commercial areas.

It also addressed the various counter-drone defence systems that are being developed to enhance security against the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Head’s theme was the menace of drones in a prison environment.

In his 45-minute presentation he said the issue of drones in a correctional environment is not just a CSC problem but an international problem.

"All correctional service jurisdictions are currently struggling with this phenomenon and expending resources to find solutions," said a Power Point presentation provided by Head’s office.

He also told the conference that policies had not yet been developed federally, provincially or territorially to deal with an incursion in the air space of a correctional institution but policies exist in dealing with aircraft entering the airspace of federal penitentiaries.

According to Head’s presentation, some of the risks drones cause in a penitentiary environment include the introduction of contraband, covert information gathering, perimeter intrusion or attacks, a diversionary tactic as well as monitoring security responses and protocols.

He said since 2013 there have been 41 drone incidents at CSC institutions across Canada.

Collins Bay Institution had eight drone incidents since that time, the second highest in the nation after the Cowansville Institution in Quebec with nine.

No other local institution has experienced a drone drop in the last three years, according to Head’s presentation.

Since the proliferation of the use of drones, CSC has been trying to keep them from flying over their institutions and dropping contraband.

According to Access to Information requests, drone sightings occurred six times at Collins Bay Institution in 2015 and on Aug. 5 of that year a drone dropped contraband including marijuana, tobacco and a cell phone.

Earlier this month, according to multiple sources inside the institution, another drop of contraband was made, triggering a lockdown of the institution.

In both cases the items were seized by correctional officers before inmates could get their hands on them.

In closing, Head said ongoing problem identification, research, solution identification and product development will be critical to address the problem of drones in a correctional environment.

As well, he said, working in partnerships with other groups will lead to short-term and long-term solutions.

"It is important to also think beyond the solutions for yesterday’s problems, as the technology around drones is advancing quickly."

Head told the conference that drones have become smaller, faster, smarter and equipped with highly technical options.

He also added that as drones become more sophisticated in delivering various payloads, CSC must consider counter-measures that do not create other collateral problems such as drones carrying biological and/or chemical payloads that could be dispersed in the air if the drone is shot down.

He said anti-drone technologies that have been accessed while working with public safety partners include 3D radar, radio frequency control signal detection and a variety of special cameras.

A final report of the technology evaluations will be produced at the end of March 2017.

imacalpine@postmedia.com

Twitter @IanMacAlpine

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