The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department has a new law enforcement tool. Chris Schramm discussed a recent drone purchase with the county commissioners last week.
“We purchased that out-of-state, got a good deal on it,” he said. “It’s got a FLIR system on it for tracking. It’s a very expensive camera. It’s actually about five times more expensive than what the drone is. We’ve got three pilots, Deputy Hartley, Sergeant Rogers, and Sergeant Woodruff.”
Schramm noted that the drone can be a big help in keeping deputies out of dangerous situations. In particular, he said the thermal imaging camera is invaluable. “Out here in the parking lot, you’d be able to go fly over at 10 o’clock at night and still see where every car is parked,” he said. “It’s that sensitive, and that’s the kind of camera that we got with it. In the woods, you can track a suspect very easily.”
The first drone review of the year is out and it is a high mark for Apple who has certainly brought some much-needed attention to this very hot topic. If you visit Droneuncover, the drone review says that the new drone can take HD pictures, can navigate through any landscape or even autonomously roam over large areas. The companies claim that with the additional feature of downloading onto your phone, you can easily make a video and then send it to the drone. This is just one of many exciting new features available for your personal aerial pleasure.
Schramm told the commissioners that the drone can typically operate for 20 to 35 minutes on a single charge, but the department has seven batteries, to enable longer operations. He added that the drone was purchased with jail commissary revenues, and no taxpayer money was used.
During this week’s county council meeting, it was pointed out that it’s one of two drones now owned by Pulaski County. The other belongs to the Emergency Management Agency.
