Can Police Drones Save Money for Ohio?

Law-enforcement officials in Ohio hope that drone deployment may make their jobs more effective and trim down their aerial budgets.

Several departments across the Buckeye State are reporting successful uses of UAV tech to complement or even replace more expensive helicopters.

WSYX reports: “If departments are successful in establishing drone projects, the unmanned aircraft will be whizzing 400 feet above neighborhoods.”

During a recent workshop, Aeryon Labs Inc. taught local police and fire departments the basics of drone deployment.

The Canadian company is fast becoming a leader in public-safety drone tech. In 2014, the company announced that the Michigan State Police had agreed to standardize its statewide drone deployment with Aeryon’s SkyRanger quadcopter models.

In October, Microsoft announced inclusion of SkyRanger in its Advanced Patrol Platform car for use by law enforcement.

“There will be an unmanned aircraft of some type in every police car, in every fire truck, at least in the country,” Aeryon representative Donald Shinnamon told WSYX. “The applications for public safety are tremendous,” he added.

Public-safety agencies continue to find new uses for drones – search-and-rescue, event security, traffic investigation and even crimes of a “kite nature.”

“[Drone use] puts a machine in harm’s way instead of a human being,” Columbus firefighter Wes Spradlin stated in a TV interview. “We go into situations not knowing anything. The more information, the faster we can get it, the more lives can be saved and the less danger we can put ourselves into,” he added.

Shinnamon told the media that 30 law enforcement agencies had drone deployment projects in place (note: given the percentage of police drones covered by DRONELIFE, we suspect this number could be even higher).

“It’s unclear which departments in Central Ohio will invest in unmanned aircraft,” reporters Amanda Burger and Brooks Jarosz said. “It’s still early.”

Ohio is following in the footsteps of several other “Game of Drones” states including Arkansas and Kansas as well as Massachusetts and Tennessee.