The Bowling Green Police Department is taking formative steps to increase the safety of the community and upgrade their technological components by adding new high-tech drones to their equipment. To get a better insight into why these were purchased, how they operate and how they will help the citizens and police officers of Bowling Green, Lieutenant Adam Skaff shared some more insight.
Q: Can you explain what exactly these new devices are? Are they just called “drones” or is there a proper term for them?
A: Drone is the common term most people would know and use but there is an actual term for them if you look in our policy, it’s called a “small, unmarked aircraft system.” Our policy uses SUS for small, unmanned aircraft systems. We had an existing drone for a few years, but it didn’t have the capabilities we needed and as technology changes, there are a lot more things you can do with it. So, the one that we had was fitted to us from another investigation and we had it for a couple of years. The new ones though just have many more features that we need such as thermal imaging, and the battery life was shorter. We have already put them up a few times and our goal is to use them as much as we can so we can become better with them, the more you use something the better you become at it. It’s just another tool on our toolbelt, just like we have tools for a lot of things, it’s just another way to enhance our ability to investigate things. While it can be used for surveillance and things like that, we anticipate using it for pre-planning things like the Black Swamp Arts Festival. We will not be using it to track or spy on people. Of course, privacy is very important for the community, and we want to assure people this is not something we are putting up every day to watch people or track cars. Very rare to use all the tools on our belt, but it’s there if we need it.
Q: What was the process and timeline of getting these new drones?
A: Through the Bowling Green Community Foundation grant and then regular city budgeting, we purchased two of these drones. Each year the community foundation provides money to different organizations in the city for many different things and our drones can serve the community in a multitude of ways, so we applied for that and provided some reasoning. For our application we had letters of support sent in from the fire department because these devices could be used to assist in a fire by looking at hot spots after the firework show for the city or if they had an active fire, we could put the drone up and point out where some issues are located. We also had a letter from someone from the Black Swamp Festival, because most people don’t know how much work goes into the event, they just see the actual event. With those letters of support, we applied for the grant and were funded for one of the drones. For the other, we used the regular city budget planning. They are about $7,000 apiece, so we used our money wisely and put it towards this.
Q: Why did BGPD feel the need to make this technological advancement to the department?
A: We had some instances where we needed to use them, but we would have to contact another agency which is typically the sheriff’s office and by the time we needed them, it just took too long. Last year we had two people escape from the residential facilities and by the time you get ahold of them and get everyone out there, there is a time delay. The sheriff’s office is great, and they assist us when they can but sometimes they have their own things going on and they are not available or the person who operates them is on vacation. While it’s nice to be able to utilize their equipment, at some point we realized we needed our own. This is helpful for us to respond to emergencies in a timely manner and get things done faster.
Q: Was there any training that officers went through to be able to operate these devices?
A: We do understand some of the limitations of what can and can’t be done so in order to operate it the officers had to go to a mandated FAA training course. Almost like a pilot license, where they had to take tests, readings and know where you can fly, where you can’t fly, all those rules. We also have one of our sergeants that runs the program that is certified, one officer and our chief of police is a certified pilot, so he has the ability to do it as well. Our two officers are assigned their drones, and they take them with them wherever they go in case something was to take place, they can quickly get it out of the car and up in the air in less than two or three minutes.
Q: How close must an operator to be to able to keep control of and fly the drones? Can weather possibly be something that would get in the way of usage?
A: I’m not totally sure what their requirements are but I believe I was told it can go 400 feet in the air. The distance it can fly, I think I was told it can go up to two miles away, but it has a home button so if they somehow lost control, contact or sight of the device, it knows to go back to the starting location. Typically, they will be used where they are within the general area of the operator so they can safely operate it. For the weather, it would depend on the level of severity, but they are designed to stay upright and stay steady. They are not designed to be used or put up during a hailstorm and the wind around here is often bad. The officers using them will be the ones to decide if it is safe to use them and if they are needed at the moment. `
Q: Overall, what is BGPD’s biggest goal or priority when it comes to keeping the community safe?
A: Our biggest concern every day is, this sounds generic, but it’s just keeping the community safe. There are different priority levels too, there is a difference between us responding to a barking dog complaint or someone that calls because they are being assaulted or a business being robbed. These priorities go into everything we do to determine what the best way to respond is and what priority level something is at. The drones can help us make that distinction if something is a major incident to a minor incident. Our number one thing on every one of our policies and procedures is the safety of us and the community. That comes before anything else. The most important thing is to protect life and we do everything in our power to keep everyone safe.
Q: In what area of safety will these devices help the most? Is this more of a surveillance tactic or a way to catch criminals?
A: Of course, we know that there is nothing that can replace an actual officer on a scene, but three years ago we didn’t have body cams. 30 years ago, we didn’t have in-car video cameras, but things change and evolve so in order for us to continue to be effective and assist citizens, we must continue to make these adjustments. Our main thought with this is to use them for pre-planning for events, so we can get area images, tracking if we are looking for a missing child or adult or a suspect if we are on the look. Recently, we had a resident who thought someone was breaking into their house, and officers can go to a scene but it’s much easier for an unmanned aircraft to see more than an officer would. It’s also a lot easier to hide from a police car that you know is coming and an aircraft gives the officers more eyes on a scene. In addition to that, with thermal imaging we can see if it looks like there is someone hiding under a car or in a dumpster. We can also use these to take photos for things like crime scenes and use those in court. So, while it has the capability of things like catching a criminal or someone we are looking for, we don’t really do much of that here in Bowling Green, so a vast majority of the use will be for pre-planning events, but it’s nice to have it here if we need it.
