As the public safety sector grows, communities and departments want more information on how police use drones to protect and serve their communities. In this guest post by a founding member of Ft. Wayne’s Air Support Unit: how drones are used, how they train, and how they work with the community.
The Fort Wayne Police Department Air Support Unit (ASU) started in 2017. The team was a vision of Lieutenant Jon Bowers all the way back to 2015. The original focus of the team was to provide over watch for the emergency services team (EST) operations. At the time, the team was developed from two hostage negotiators and two licensed pilots on the police department. As things progressed, it was decided that the group of four would be its own team falling under the Special Operations division of the police department and the official team was compromised of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, and five patrol officers.
How Police Use Drones in Fort Wayne
Since 2017, the team has grown. In 2022, the team will be comprised of 2 Sergeants and 8 patrol officers. The team responded to 217 calls for service in 2021. This included EST over watch, fatal crash team reconstruction, outdoor crimes scenes, subjects that were fleeing from the police, missing children and adults, and radio tower inspections. The team also was apart of 29 demos for the public with community relations in 2021.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2022/01/25/an-inside-look-at-how-police-use-drones-fort-wayne-indiana/
The Fort Wayne Police Department Air Support Unit (ASU) started in 2017. The team was a vision of Lieutenant Jon Bowers all the way back to 2015. The original focus of the team was to provide over watch for the emergency services team (EST) operations. At the time, the team was developed from two hostage negotiators and two licensed pilots on the police department. As things progressed, it was decided that the group of four would be its own team falling under the Special Operations division of the police department and the official team was compromised of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, and five patrol officers.
How Police Use Drones in Fort Wayne
Since 2017, the team has grown. In 2022, the team will be comprised of 2 Sergeants and 8 patrol officers. The team responded to 217 calls for service in 2021. This included EST over watch, fatal crash team reconstruction, outdoor crimes scenes, subjects that were fleeing from the police, missing children and adults, and radio tower inspections. The team also was apart of 29 demos for the public with community relations in 2021.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2022/01/25/an-inside-look-at-how-police-use-drones-fort-wayne-indiana/
