The Dutch police will be investing heavily in expanding its drone fleet in the coming years. The police currently have about sixty drones. In two years, there must be at least 130. The drones are increasingly being used for various applications, such as enforcement, locating missing persons, and investigating traffic accidents.
In Amarillo, Texas, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office said the police drone that flew away during a search for auto burglary suspects early Tuesday morning, has been found and recovered.
Drones play a key role in documenting crime scenes, finding missing persons, and assisting with other routine problems at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, drone footage has been released of the Vancouver police clearing Oppenheimer Park in 2019 after receiving a report of a man being shot in the now-dismantled encampment. The use of the police drone caused concerns with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which would like to see all police drone operations listed on the website of the Vancouver Police Department.
On Tuesday evening police officers were called to reports of a suspected stolen tractor being loaded up into a truck near Tintinhull, in the United Kingdom. The officers used a police drone with a thermal camera to locate stolen farm equipment.
A DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise drone outfitted with a spotlight was used by homicide detectives from the Atlanta Police Department to assist in the arrest of the murder suspect of Thomas Jefferson Byrd.
A police drone rescued a 60-year-old duck hunter who had been stranded and clung to his boat for hours in a Minnesota lake last Saturday. According to the police, officials used a drone to find him in a lake roughly 140 miles north of Minneapolis.
On Sunday, first responders found the body of a 20-year-old man who was reported missing on Saturday. The aerial search included drones and helicopters.
A North Carolina Sheriff’s Department uses federal grant to buy two DJI drones, the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual and the much larger DJI Matrice 600 Pro. The two drones combined and including accessories costs around $22,000.
On Monday afternoon, Killeen Police Department officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Legacy Lane, in reference to a report of a person with a firearm and shots fired. The ensuing standoff, during which the police drone was shot at, has the suspect facing both a felony and a misdemeanor charge.
In Allen County, Indiana, a suspect was taken into custody with the help of a police drone and K9s. The suspect was apprehended on Wednesday after a high-speed chase through southeast Fort Wayne.
Early Wednesday morning, law enforcement was assisted by a police drone to catch a murder suspect who was hiding in a Rapid Valley creek, according to a news release from the Rapid City Police Department and Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
In Manchester, New Hampshire police said set that they used a police drone and a dog to track down a man hiding in the backyard who is believed to have stolen a gun.
In the UK, a police drone spots a missing woman’s bright pair of trainers sticking from underneath a tree. The Nottinghamshire Police was able to rescue the woman and bring her to a hospital.
A surveillance drone assisted multiple law enforcement agencies in catching a burglary suspect in Wichita County, Texas.
Auburn Police Department in the state of New York plans to start a drone program with seized drug money, but needs to receive approval from the city council before they can go ahead and do so.
Last night in Coalville in the United Kingdom, the police drone team aided in the search for a missing person at Bardon Hull quarry site, along with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service.
