In 2016, the Chula Vista Police Department in California began researching a drone program. The FAA designated them as the first officially sanctioned police department to implement a drone unit. Soon after, the New York City Police Department, the largest police department in the world, purchase 14 DJI drones in 2018. Slowly, law enforcement agencies across the United States began adopting drone programs. At first, drones in the hands of law enforcement agencies raised a lot of concerns from the public and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

In the early stages of law enforcement drones, there was the concern that these drones would be noisy and invasive, that they would cause more harm than good. Meanwhile, the ACLU spoke of their fear that drones would be used to racially profile and target certain communities, spying on citizens. That is why when law enforcement agencies begin developing drone programs, they often invite ACLU representatives to help write usage guidelines. Departments also hold open forums with the public to introduce them to the drone programs, ensuring the public that the drones would be used with respect to the community. All law enforcement and emergency agencies that use drones have to follow strict regulations that prohibit drones from being used in any way that would violate civil liberties.

Today, hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country have a drone unit. They use these drones in a wide range of scenarios. Drones help officers monitor traffic violations, keep track of and pursue suspects, collect evidence, and get situational awareness in dangerous settings. But perhaps one of the most frequent ways police and emergency officers use drones is to locate and rescue people who have gone missing. With a bird’s eye point of view, a drone can quickly search an area to find someone who may be hidden from view from rescuers on the ground. Rather than forming slow moving search lines, that can still easily miss a person, a drone’s camera can show its pilot a wide swath of space below in its entirety. As drone technology has progressed, many now have cameras with infrared imaging. These cameras allow officers to search for missing persons who may be hidden in tall vegetation, under a canopy of trees, in the water, or even inside of a building. The infrared cameras also make it possible to search for a missing person at nighttime.

Late at night on Monday, March 22, 2021, the Grant County Sheriff’s Department in Washington had the opportunity to prove just how useful it is to have a drone with an infrared camera at its disposal. About 2 hours west of Spokane is the Grant County community of Hartline. A small, rural, tight knit community of fewer than 300 people. The town covers about 0.33 sq miles, much of which is covered in tall vegetation like sagebrush. Well after dark, the family of a 70 year old man suffering from dementia noticed he had gone missing from the home. They promptly began searching the area around the house. When the man wasn’t found within the first few minutes, the family called the sheriff’s office at 1:30 a.m.

The responding officers immediately began searching the nearby sagebrush field with dogs and flashlights. After searching through the 3-4ft tall sagebrush, the officers realized they needed backup. They called in to have the department’s infrared drone come help. The drone was sent up, and 8 minutes later, the man was found. The Grant County Sheriff’s Department released the rescue footage to show just how vital drones are to law enforcement officers. Though it is hard to tell just how well concealed the man was in the field, you can see the white shape of the man lying down as rescuers try to close in on him. The drone operator verbally guides the rescuers in the dark. When the glowing white outline of the first person finally reached the prone man, the others come rushing to the sound of his voice. The elderly man was lifted and promptly taken for medical attention.

Because of the difficult terrain, the dark night, and the fact that the man was wearing dark clothes and lying down, rescuers had walked right by him several times without knowing it. Temperatures were dropping to below freezing, and time was running out. Grant County Fire District 6 Fire Chief, Daryl Dormaier, was part of the first team to respond to the emergency. He said that the missing man was someone whom he had known all his life, and they were fearing for the worse until the drone showed up. “We never saw him,” he said. “We only had flashlights, and it would’ve been a lot more looking and searching hadn’t we had the sheriff’s department’s drone with infrared.”

Luckily, the man was uninjured and returned to his home. A very different and tragic scenario could have unfolded if the drone hadn’t been able to find the man as rapidly as it did. Often, people forget that law enforcement and emergency officers go to work every day to protect and serve the community. Fearing that a police department will use a drone nefariously is unfounded. Drones are there to help officers help people. As Fire Chief Dormaier said, “It’s just something we do. It’s kind of neighbor helping neighbor, down here in this neck of the woods.” That sentiment applies to all the people who turned up to search for their neighbor, including the drone.

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