Drones Fit In
Drones are playing an increasingly important role in LE aerial surveillance. But they are doing so as supplements to helicopters, rather than replacements.
One reason for drones is cost. “There are about 18,000 LE agencies in the United States, but only about 350 have the budget to support crewed aircraft,” said Daniel Schwarzbach, executive director/CEO of the Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA). “A lot of units that need eyes in the sky and couldn’t afford helicopters have adopted drones and done so quite successfully.” Another reason is the drone’s ability to fly low and slow, allowing it to inspect areas that are just too confined and close to the ground for helicopters to approach safely.
“As advantageous as the manned police platform is, there are several gaps in ability due to numerous constraints from geographic positioning to fleet bandwidth,” Miyauchi says. “Drones have done an incredible job of helping to close those gaps. At the same time, they have served to strengthen the justification for police to have actual eyes in the sky.”
As drone programs continue to expand and help close gaps, a growing multitude of agencies have realized that the proper home for police drone programs is advantageously placed within police aviation units. One unexpected result: “Since some of the smaller departments in Fresno County have gone to drones, they’re not calling us as often for assists,” Reyes says. “That’s not a problem for us, since our unit has enough work to keep our helicopters busy, but we have noticed the drop in requests.”
Drones would certainly help in Imperial County, California, where the Narcotics Task Force Air Support Unit Robinson R44 police helicopter has been grounded awaiting scheduled maintenance. “It’s been about 18 months that we’ve been unable to fly,” Chief Pilot Donald Wharton says. “The R44 is due for about $250,000 in service work, and our budget just doesn’t have that money right now.” Imperial County is now trying to find funding sources to get the R44 into the shop. “If something happens that enhances the mandate for aerial drug interdiction or border security, that could help us get back in the air,” Wharton says.
The Travis County government in Texas uti- lizes Leonardo AW169s for patient transport, search and rescue, law enforcement and firefighting missions.
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May/June 2020
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