Community for Cops
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time during a standoff between SWAT and a robbery suspect in Koreatown late last week.
The bad guys can track law enforcement aircraft in flight using a variety of readily available tools.
Departures were halted at Heathrow Airport just west of London on Tuesday due to a reported drone incursion into the airspace.
Police in the United Kingdom have released two people—who have not yet been identified—arrested after an incursion of at least one drone into the airspace of Gatwick airport last week.
"Drone technology will give our cops and their incident commanders an opportunity to see what they're getting into before they go into harm's way," NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said Tuesday. "This can now get us a lot closer into areas that a helicopter wouldn't be able to get into.”
What can you do to protect the public and yourself from drones?
Now that the FAA has relaxed its regulations for commercial drone operation by public safety agencies, more and more police departments want to add this tool to their capabilities.
The Dallas (TX) Police Department recently made their case to that city's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee that the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for missions such as search and rescue would benefit the city.
Yuneec International has expanded its UAV payload offering with the E10T advanced thermal camera.
The United States Senate on Wednesday passed the "FAA Reauthorization Act" which—among other things—could allow federal law enforcement officers to shoot down privately owned drones.