Shane Holtz, a patrol officer with the Grand Junction Police Department, used a drone to pursue a fleeing suspect in an incident a few weeks ago.

“We didn’t know where he was, but we knew where he was last seen,” Holtz said.

Holtz said the drone detected a fire in a pile of brushwood and the suspect was found about 10 feet away.

“It’s very possible that the hotspot I saw was him,” Holtz said. “You can’t say that with 100 percent certainty.”

What most people think of as drones and the drones used by police in the area are actually unmanned aerial systems, according to Mesa County Sheriff’s Patrol Lt. Jim Fogg. The difference lies in the level of autonomy each of these systems has.

“Being able to fly is an area that is really — I don’t want to use the word ‘taking off,’ but really starting to take off,” said Trent Rundquist, a civilian manager with the GJPD. “There are so many skills associated with that.”

MANY USES

Rundquist said the department has about 16 drones of varying sizes and capabilities.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office now has about ten drones, including two used in search and rescue operations.

“Most people automatically think that someone has run away from us or fled to an area where we have to search a large area,” Fogg said.

The various uses of drones include searching buildings, search and rescue operations, patrol tactics, photographing traffic accidents, photographing crime scenes, photographing areas where police require special attention, and monitoring crime scenes for security purposes.

“We continue to discover uses for them,” Fogg said.

Drones provide law enforcement with an aerial platform similar to a helicopter, but without the associated costs.or the ability to lift a person, a helicopter, said Fogg.

“Someone falls in the river and we’re looking for that person, that’s what we can use it for. We’ve used it, we’ve got a missing child, we’re looking for that person and we can go airborne, that’s what we can use it for, we’ve got a barricaded person, that’s what we could maybe use it for,” Rundquist said.

According to Holtz, officers can use drones to execute search warrants, fly through a home to determine if and where someone is, and locate barricaded people.

Some drones have long battery life, so you can send them into a house, where they can sit and watch the camera to see if anyone is moving or if a suspect is changing location. That’s “pretty valuable information,” Holtz says.

They could also search homes that appeared deserted or very crowded without endangering officers, Holtz said.

The search and rescue functions are also robust.

“I actually found a child on one of the islands out in the river using the drones. For example, I’ve used them after a bushfire to check that no one is in dangerous places. For example, I’ve used them to search for suspects on the run,” said Holtz.

BACKGROUND

According to Fogg, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office purchased its first drone in 2009, but there have been quieter times since the program began.

“Originally, we were one of the first law enforcement agencies in the country to have a drone program, but then we backed away from it a bit, except for crime scene photography,” Fogg said.

Now the office is focusing more on the general use of drones, he said.

“We started a long time ago, then just stalled a little bit and now we’re starting again,” Fogg said.

According to Rundquist, GJPD built its drone program in 2020 and is now in the walk/run phase of the crawl/walk/run paradigm. He expects the program to continue to grow.

“Over the last two years, things have really come a long way and we now use drones on a fairly regular basis,” he said.

EDUCATION

The GJPD has 18 drone pilots, including officers from the investigative, patrol and traffic units, as well as non-sworn drone pilots, primarily in the crime lab.

All drone operators must be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Drone pilots are first sent to a week-long training course where they learn rules and regulations and how to fly and maneuver properly. Then, after they pass a certification exam, the department conducts regular training and encourages them to take matters into their own hands, Rundquist said.

“We’ve tried everything from putting a stack of chairs out there and having them fly through them. They had to fly in a park to document things there, flying in and out of pretty tight areas,” Rundquist said. “We really try to encourage our drone pilots to expand their skills to make sure they can fly safely.”

The MCSO currently has only two drone pilots on patrol, with about six total, Fogg said. The lack of pilots is his biggest problem with the program.

“While it’s not required by law, we require all of our current operators to have a Part 107 license. So Part 107 is a licensing process for commercial drone operators,” Fogg said.

The reason the MCSO requires commercial drone licenses is so that operators are well-versed in FAA drone regulations, Fogg said.

DATA PROTECTION

“Many people are rightly concerned about their privacy,” Holtz said. “A drone can’t fly anywhere we’re not allowed to fly. That means we can’t just fly into someone’s house.”

Holtz said the GJPD needs a permit, search warrant or something similar to enter a home with a drone.

The same goes for the privacy of a backyard, he said.

“If you have a six-foot fence and expect a certain level of privacy, we will not fly a drone to look over your fence,” Holtz said.

However, the search for a suspect is a little different.

Fogg compared a drone hovering over a backyard to a deputy sheriff peering over a fence to see if there is a suspect there.

“If we’re hovering over your house, it probably means there’s a bad guy in your backyard,” Fogg said.

The MCSO has a policy that drones are never allowed to record private property unless the video serves a specific police purpose.

“We’re not trying to look at something we’re not supposed to look at,” Holtz said.