The Vallejo Police Department has expanded its Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Tech Team to help streamline public safety efforts and provide officers with an efficient tool for solving and reducing crime.
The Tech Team is now equipped with five pilots who are trained and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as unmanned-aircraft pilots. The Vallejo Police Department's UAS Tech Team began in September 2017 when five FAA-trained and certified officers were selected to operate the department's drones.
UAS, commonly known as drones, are aerial devices with onboard computer and video camera technology. The devices are operated remotely by ground-level pilots using handheld controllers. Smaller drones are battery operated and have several rotors like a helicopter.
“As our program evolves, our priority remains streamlining the program and policies to increase transparency and provide our community with a better understanding of drone technology and public safety benefits,” a news release stated. “The expansion of the VPD’s program will include outreach to community stakeholders, advisory boards and privacy groups like the ACLU to ensure privacy and civil liberty concerns are addressed.”
In public safety operations and life preservation missions, UAS drones may be used in a variety of capacities including barricade situations, active-shooter incidents, apprehension of armed and dangerous subjects, high-risk search warrants, investigative scenes, missing person incidents, search-and-rescue operations, disaster scene incidents, hazardous materials incidents, special events, outside public agency assists and training missions.
Recently, UAS deployment resulted in the capture of an armed man involved in a domestic violence incident. On July 13, officers responded to a domestic violence call and reports of a man with a gun. When they arrived, officers were told that the man had been seen running toward nearby apartments in the area. Officers parked at a neighboring location to launch the drone and were able to find the gunman and guide responding units to his location. The drone provided a bird's-eye view, allowing officers to prepare, act with more precision and safely take the suspect into custody.
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