Police Using Drones: Can Police Departments Afford NOT to Have Drones?
David: Hey everybody. David Plummer, along with my business partner, Michael Ferguson, here for another episode of our podcast. There are three to four of you still reading—thank you! Matt Udelhoven from the Elgin Police Department is also here joining us. We're talking police and drones.
So in previous episodes, we’ve talked about you having to do the public forums, just to help calm any fears that people might have about a drone program. But where I think things are shifting, and you and I have talked about this before, is instead of people going, “Why is that police department using drones?” We're going to start seeing a shift into, “Wait, why isn't that police department using drones? My daughter is missing...what do you mean you don't have a drone?” You know? And I just wonder, do you agree?
Lt. Udelhoven: Totally agree with you. The more technology evolves, the more capabilities that drones have, such as the dropping devices, the spotlight, the PA system, the thermal cameras...I don't know if you can afford not to have a drone eventually. Like we said in a previous blog, it's another tool in the toolbox, but like you said, how do you tell that family member, we can't check the woods or the forest today, or we can't go to this area. We don't have a drone.
David: Right. I mean, you can get a thermal drone now, even a low-res one, for less than $5,000. If a life isn't your return on investment, I don't know what is. You know what I mean? And I think that's the thing that we're hoping to get through to people. It's going to be a necessary thing. God forbid any of us are ever in that situation where we need that, but I really hope it's there if we do ever need it. And I think the main discussion point in all of this is I feel like the tide is kind of turning. I hope it is. And you know, much thanks to people like Matt that are running their drone program responsibly, and making the public more comfortable with it. So I think that's a great thing.
Lt. Udelhoven: I also think mutual aid will play a big role in this down the road as well. If your agency doesn't have a fleet of drones or can't afford the drones that you want or need, perhaps neighboring communities could team up and have a drone, or still rely on your partners in a mutual aid aspect. So, you know, I hope that the more drones we have out there, eventually we can all help each other.
David: Yeah. And do you guys run into (this is a sort of offshoot question)...Do you run into any citizens that are out with their drones that are trying to help in any situations?
Lt. Udelhoven: You know, a couple years ago on traffic crashes, we had a few and people understood. When we would show up and put our drone up and just kind of start to walk over and look at them and wait, there was never an altercation or “I have a right to fly.” They've been very supportive.
In fact, we are looking to get the community even more involved. When we bring the drone out, people come outside and look, and everybody loves it. You know, we're looking at maybe like naming the drone or getting the community into something like, “Look, Mom, there’s Drew the Drone up in the sky!” or something like that. Just to keep people on board more with the community partnerships, so they can embrace the technology and kind of invite the drone into their everyday life and not wonder what's going on. Just to know the drone is up saving a life or looking to help somebody.
Michael: Yeah. When we did that, was it ILEAS? And you had invited some of the kids from the town to kind of help out. They were pretending like they were lost and everything, and it's just nice. It gets the community involved. And then there's also something for somebody else, you know, the kid that maybe likes video games or something like that, he's like, “Oh, hey, you know…”
Lt. Udelhoven: And on that evening, that training scenario, more of those Explorer Kids and their parents said, “You know what? I didn't know you had drones and what a great tool that is.” And that educates more people, and they go home and tell the rest of their family and friends what a great deal it is. And eventually, that's how you overcome any misconceptions or anything with your public and gain the support. And we haven't stopped since. It's been great.
David: That is great. It's a great success story, the Elgin Police Department and their drone program.
We know now that the whole process is changing, it's evolving, but in our next episode (and this is going to be the last episode with Matt. He's been kind enough to join us for all six of these episodes.) we're going to talk about the future of drones and police, how it's going to affect future generations of police officers, how it's going to evolve even further, how it's going to change, how it's going to continue to change lives and save lives. We'll see you next time.
We are so excited to share how drones can help your business, so make sure you shoot us an email.
Michael: As always, thank you for listening. We're excited to share the future of drones with you.