No-Fly Zone Over Kahnawà:ke

For the first time ever, a restricted airspace has been established over Kahnawà:ke to assist first responders in the community.

The no-fly-zone currently extends 400 feet in the air- the equivalent of a 30 story building. As part of this effort, the Peacekeepers are partnering with Drone 360 to launch the country’s first ever Drone First Responder (DFR) Proof of Concept Program. It aims to improve traffic monitoring and emergency response times with 24/7 remote service- which, along with the drone technology itself- comes free of charge to the community.

Ohén:ton Í:rate ne Ratitsénhaienhs Cody Diabo described the initiative on Tetewatha:ren. “The drone is going to be able to respond to different emergency calls, to see what type of services are needed” Diabo said. “If there’s an accident, inspections of the bridge… different things like that”.

The drone can be dispatched anywhere in the territory at any time, allowing first responders to act quickly in the event of an emergency. That said, Diabo ensures the community that its privacy will not be compromised. “All legal processes are still in effect” he added. “It’s not like there’s going to be drones peering in people’s private property or anything like that”.

Diabo says the new technology will allow Peacekeepers to approach emergencies more safely and with more preparation. “This is just for emergency responses, so that the Peacekeepers and first responders will know what they’re walking into ahead of time” he said. “If something were to happen- maybe a suspect vehicle in some type of case- the drone is able to maybe track it down quicker than trying to have Peacekeepers driving around trying to look for it”.