Question for Bowsite LEO's
Community
So I come from line of family LEO's (I am not one) most recently retirees of a State F & G Dept. I don't recall them talking much about the use of drones in certain PD's and SO's. I'm just wondering if that is becoming a thing or not? It seems to me that drones could be quite beneficial in certain sticky situations. As well as chases, rescues, etc.
Seems this would be safer for officers rather than entering private property for a look about.
They are used. Probably more than we realize.
A LOT of the building departments around here are using aerial photos to see exterior work that has been done to a home without permits. Pretty simple if you just check from year to year. Not hard to spot a difference once you pick up some techniques. Similar to using aerial photos to scout for hunting locations. It’s all in the details. To me, it’s never been worth the risk to do work without permits, but there are quite a few who skirt the edges, or flat out don’t care, and those days are slowly coming to an end. To me, that’s a good thing. It raises the value of quality.
Some situations lend themselves to drones and others do not. Drones need to be charged and have a trained operator to be useful. In time-sensitive situations, it can take too long to get the drone on site and into operation.
One of the guys in our department has his own personal drones; And has researched and written up a proposal for our department to invest in a few and he would lead the program.... So far the Department hasn’t bit on the idea........ But I’m sure it’s not too far off in the future. For now we’re still using a chopper for all our air support.
I wonder how long its gonna be before one comes flying by your teeestand checking if your in it 2 minutes after legal shooting time...8^)
WW.....lol
Dallas used a land based drone(robot) with an explosive charge to take out the Black Lives Matter gunman who shot 5 police officers.
I've thought about this, and don't understand why they are not using them more, particularly in standoff situations.
We are using them in wildand fire work now. Heat detection, night flights, scouting where to build line, observation flights when aircraft are grounded due to visibility issues, weather etc. Any place where having "boots on the ground" or pilots in the air could be less than safe for firefighters.
Pete
I put my canoe in last year on the Rappahannock River, going after come blues and channel cats. The Private Owner of the boat ramp was telling me a tale of the Game Wardens using a drone to see boaters placing under/over slot limit Strippers in their live well.
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He stated that the boaters would see the game wardens coming, and simply empty their live well of the illegal fish. But - TOO LATE - they had it on video, and were writing tickets anyway.
Now I do not know if any of that is true. However, they did pull along side of me and ask me if I had caught anything. I hadn't at the moment, and - it was the first time in Virginia that I had come across a game warden without having my license checked.
I figured they were afraid they would swamp my canoe if they tried carding me.
I got back to the Private Boat Ramp and told the owner about what had happened, and he said they already knew who I was because the Drone ran by numbers on the side of my canoe.
Again, I do not know if that is true, but if so, all they knew was who the canoe was registered to, and not who was in it.
Anyway, that is the "rumor" on the Rappahannock River in the Old Dominion.
When G&F asks if you caught anything...they already know the answer. Don't lie... spotting scopes have been around a while.
"placing under/over slot limit Strippers in their live well."
Must be a big livewell :-) Are you talking age limit here?
I hear Dollar Bills are good bait but twenties are better....;^)
HAR ! The attached photo is what I was talking about, but the other would be more of an interesting story.
. . . . and yes, 70lbdraw, I agree. LEOs HATE when they get lied to. No mercy after that point.
Lol...Tonyo! I learned that lesson about a month after I got my first driver's license! Turns out 16 year olds are NOT smarter than cops...whooda thunk?!
My train of thought with this thread was leaning towards business opportunities. It seems someone with any skill for flying drones could hone his skills and contract his services. I recently bought a home and the inspector used a drone to inspect the roof since it's very steep and high. The pictures were as good as looking at it with your own eyes. And he was done in the time it would have taken to set a ladder up in the first place! I was amazed!...(cuz I'm old)
It seems a guy could do herd counts, building inspections, fencing inspections etc.
" It seems someone with any skill for flying drones could hone his skills and contract his services. "
If you do it for pay, you are required to have either the drone training and licence or a pilot's license.
HA/KS, my next question was going to pertain to the potential licensing nightmare that may be associated with it. Of course, it could explain the lack of folks flooding the market the way they did the vaping fad.
Drones sure have a place in law enforcement but as zbone points out, good old fashioned low-tech spotting scopes have busted a LOT of perps. People are really surprised when I tell them exactly how many fish are in their cooler when they only have two on the stringer, as I'm writing them an expensive "good fishing" citation.
Another thing many don't realize when talking to their buddies on Moto Talkabouts, Rhinos, etc., is that many wardens here in the West drive around pr sit on high ridges with FRS/GMRS scanners and hear lots of interesting things from hunters. A warden friend once recognized my voice when I was communicating my location to another Bowsiter so we could meet at the end of a ridge. He broke into our conversation and we had a pretty funny chat about some stuff he'd been hearing that morning from other hunters.
70lb, Kansas State Polytechnic in Salina Kansas has a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) program. They have a highly acclaimed pilot training program as well as other aviation programs, so adding this program was a natural advancement.
Pretty soon we'll be at the point where if we're out hunting and need to take a dump we'll have to put up a tent for privacy!
WW, you already better be careful if you make a pit stop in a remote location because you could end up on someone's trail camera.
