Medicine Hat police report using its drone unit 21 separate times during the month of December, assisted officers on various calls such as break-and-enters and suicide intervention.--FILE PHOTO
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During the month of January the Medicine Hat Police Service deployed its drone unit to 21 calls for service, providing aerial support to responding police officers, police commission members heard.
These deployments included high-risk overwatch, compound and large area searches, missing and suicidal person investigations, perimeter containment, collision documentation and assistance with fleeing suspects, Insp. Jason Graham said during a public police commission meeting last week.
In March 2025 the MHPS launched its new DJI Matrice 30 Series drone, equipped with multiple cameras as well as a thermal camera. The unmanned aerial vehicle is also weather-resistant and built to work in extreme cold or hot conditions.
The commercial grade drone also boasts increased battery life and utilizes a large-style remote controller to allow smooth flying.
“The consistent use of our drone technology enhanced officer safety, improved situational awareness and supported timely decision-making and co-ordinating across units,” said Graham, who proceeded to highlight an incident last month where police utilized the drone to help a suicidal individual.
“The drone unit was used during a high-risk hazardous material incident involving a suicidal individual who had generated hydrogen sulphide gas, which is H2S gas, inside his vehicle.
“Drone overwatch provided continuous situational awareness, supported perimeter and management and significantly reduced officer exposure while police co-ordinated with fire and EMS,” said Graham.
The individual complied with first responders and exited the vehicle before being transported to hospital under the mental health act.
Firefighters on scene confirmed lethal levels of gas concentrations in the vehicle and assumed scene control to decontaminate the area.
Last month police also used the drone unit to track the movements of a break-and-enter suspect’s vehicle, leading to an arrest.
Police used the drone to support an investigation into residential break-and-enters by providing police realtime observations of the suspects vehicle, which was identified through CCTV.
“The drone-assisted monitoring allowed our police members to discreetly track the vehicle’s movements and document travel patterns throughout neighbourhoods experiencing multiple break-and-enters,” explained Graham. “Identifying behaviour consistent with surveillance and target selection.”
This directly contributed to the identification, capture and arrest of the suspect.
Calls for service
Last month MHPS responded to 2,173 calls for service, including 13 for residential break-and-enter and 11 for business break-and-enter.
The downtown patrol unit responded to 60 calls in January, including six property-based calls and 20 calls for social disorder. Of note, police responded to zero drug or alcohol-related calls downtown, compared to six in December.
The municipal enforcement section responded to 452 calls, including 190 related to road safety, 89 animal control calls, six related to encampments and 117 initiated by officers.
The traffic unit issued four IRS failures, or impaired driving, and four 24-hour suspensions, up from issuing two IRS fails and no 24-hour suspensions in December 2025.
The cybercrime unit assisted with seven files and analyzed five devices. The family crime unit conducted nine new investigations and six child-involved forensic interviews.
