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Air Support: Wood County officials receive demonstration of drones’ benefits in law enforcement

By Brett Dunlap 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Local law enforcement is looking at drones that could be utilized in local operations that can be used both inside and outside which could help assess potentially dangerous situations before law enforcement would send officers in.

The Wood County Commission, the Wood County Sheriff's Department, Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure and other local law enforcement personnel were part of a demonstration by Brinc, a U.S. company developing tech in the service of public safety, where the company representatives showed different drones and talked about their different capabilities.

Mike Weaver, the West Virginia Account Executive for Brinc, talked about how a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 led to the company's founding with the thought drones which could operate indoors could have helped with the response.

"(The founder) had a vision of a drone that could respond to calls for service and assist deputies on large-scale incidents and provide overwatch and give an added layer of situational awareness,'' Weaver said.

A dramatized demonstration video was shown where a drone (a LEMUR 2) could enter a house with armed assailants and establish communication as well as give law enforcement a layout of the room through mapping technology, how many people were in there, if anyone was armed and so on.

"Brinc is an American-made company," Weaver said. "All of the hardware and software is manufactured and developed at our company headquarters in Seattle, Wash.

"Our company's goal is to provide these tools and solutions to improve situational awareness, to make better decisions and enhance officers' safety and community safety."

The drone is capable of two-way communication where officials can call in to the drone and talk to the people nearby. The drone's flight path uses mapping technology to create 3-D mapping models. Some organizations, like schools, are having drones fly through their buildings to do a floor plan for emergency preparations if needed.

Trevor Marlin, product specialist, provided a demonstration where he flew a drone inside the sheriff's department, going into a breakroom as well as down a hall. The people watching the demonstration saw the video feed to see what the drone was seeing. The drone was able to land on a table and was able to show what was in the room. The observers could also see a map rendering the drone was able to create of the room.

Once it lands, Weaver said two-way communication can be held for six hours before the battery would be drained. It can be flown out and have a new battery put in and be ready to go within 40 seconds. All the conversations are recorded within the system and they have software that can transcribe the conversations for record purposes.

Another video was shown where drones could break windows to gain entry into a building or a car where someone might be holed up in.

Each drone comes with two rechargeable batteries.

Weaver said the outside drone is equipped with a camera and can look at a specific area which could be used in automobile accident investigations as well as surveillance on a narcotics subject, and do an overwatch during a search warrant. It has a GPS feature and a "Return to Home" feature to return to its base of operations outside. Each one is equipped with a parachute if it is being deployed in an area with a lot of people so it would have a parachute deployed if it lost power.

The indoors and outside drones can be used together where the outside drone can be put above a building the indoor drone is flying in to increase range and signal strength for the inside drone. The drones have lights and sirens and can be marked with the law enforcement agency ensignia so the public will know it is a law enforcement drone.

Weaver said the drones have been shot at, physically hit and more. He said they would rather have the equipment take the physical attacks than a person. There are replacements available at no additional cost if a drone is damaged and that is part of their contract.

As the technology evolves they will be able to upgrade software and more. Agencies will have the ability to access the recordings made by the drones. If an official is away, they can be given access to the drone feed to be able to monitor.

Officials said that other law enforcement agencies in the area, including Washington County, Ohio, are looking at drones. They asked if all of the drones could be used together on a big operation with the different agencies being able to tie into the drone feeds. Weaver said they could.

The system would cost around $60,000 for an outside and inside drone, the batteries and other aspects of the system.

Commissioners are taking it under advisement and will consider purchasing the system at a later time.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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