Sheriff Deputy Builds Drone Pilots in Mississippi

In a classroom filled with propellers, lithium batteries, and big ambition, a deputy sheriff is quietly shaping the next generation of drone pilots, as Leader Call reports.

In Smith County, John Darden wears two uniforms. One carries a badge from the Smith County Sheriff’s Department. The other is less visible but just as powerful: instructor.

If you had asked him years ago whether he would be teaching drones in 2026, he would have laughed.

Today, he is building a program from the ground up at the Smith County Career Center, where students are learning to fly, plan missions, and think like professionals before they even graduate high school.

From Patrol Deputy to UAS Instructor

Darden joined the sheriff’s department in 2015, working patrol and corrections. His introduction to drones started casually, sparked by a small consumer drone his nephew brought over one afternoon.

That curiosity turned into certification, field deployments, and eventually real world operations that supported law enforcement missions.

Through FAA testing and hands on experience, he became licensed and began deploying drones for manhunts, missing persons cases, and search operations, even assisting neighboring counties.

The value was immediate. A drone can scan terrain in minutes that would take deputies hours to cover on foot.

That operational experience now fuels his classroom.

The two year Unmanned Aircraft Systems program prepares students for commercial drone careers. By studying airspace regulations, compliance, waivers, and pilot qualifications under the Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 framework, students move beyond hobby flying into professional aviation territory.

First year students work toward recreational certification. In year two, they advance into mission planning, autonomous operations, and real world flight scenarios.

DJI Hardware and Real World Training

The program trains on serious hardware.

The centerpiece is a DJI Matrice 600 equipped with a thermal camera, donated by county emergency management and the sheriff’s department. Replacement cost today would approach thirty thousand dollars, with the thermal payload alone valued around eight thousand.

Students also train on DJI Mavic aircraft and indoor drones used for SkillsUSA style competitions. These smaller platforms allow beginners to build confidence quickly. Modern DJI stabilization systems make early mistakes survivable, which lowers the barrier to entry for ninth and tenth graders stepping into aviation for the first time.

The center currently has 24 students enrolled.

That number matters. Some of those students will leave high school already holding an FAA drone pilot license.

Drones as Career Accelerators

The program does not sell fantasy. It sells opportunity.

Students learn about commercial applications such as agricultural spraying, mapping, and inspection. Darden points to real numbers.

A licensed operator charging four dollars per acre for agricultural flights can generate hundreds of dollars in a single day covering large properties. Scale that across a season, and drones stop looking like gadgets and start looking like businesses.

The curriculum also prepares students for competition. The school hopes to field a team for SkillsUSA drone events, where aerial robotics, AI integration, and flight precision are tested on a 20 by 20 foot competition field. Piloting skill, teamwork, and communication are judged under pressure.

But the most important moment in the classroom is quieter.

It is the instant when a student realizes they can actually do this.

For Darden, that spark is the reward. A deputy who once chased suspects with boots on the ground is now launching futures with propellers and purpose.

DroneXL’s Take

This story is bigger than one classroom in Mississippi.

Law enforcement agencies across the United States are investing in drones. What makes this case different is the pipeline. By embedding FAA aligned drone education directly into high school career programs, communities are building certified pilots before they enter the workforce.

That is strategic.

Programs like the one in Smith County create three wins at once: stronger public safety capabilities, skilled commercial operators for local industries, and young professionals who understand aviation compliance from day one.

And here is the deeper signal for the drone industry. When ninth graders are earning pilot credentials before they can vote, the future workforce is not coming. It is already here.

Photo credit: Smith County Career Center, Kevan Lindsey / The Laurel Leader Call.