ZIONSVILLE — The Zionsville Police Department is training officers to fly drones as part of a new program officials say will boost officer safety and help fight crime as the community grows.
The department added drones a few months ago and already has used the technology to assist in a nighttime incident, officials said. Spencer Stuart is the lead drone pilot for the Zionsville Police Department and helped guide officers to a suspect.
"At nighttime, the drone is basically good for everything because I can see a lot of what regular eyes can't see. So I got the drone up in, I want to say less than 45 seconds, and I was able to see them running away from a vehicle. So, almost immediate response time," Spencer Stuart, the Lead Drone Pilot at the Zionsville Police Department, said.
Officers were able to use the drone’s footage to track and apprehend the suspect, the department said. This is the first year Zionsville has had drones and certified drone pilots on staff.
"It creates a situation where you can keep your officer safer, you can keep your community safer, it extends our reach when we are searching for suspects or even a lost kid. It helps out in a lot of different ways," Joshua Samuelson, the Captain of Operations at Zionsville Police Department, said.
Officials also say drones help during special events by estimating attendance and helping plan staffing and security.
"It allows us to check places a little quicker, a little more thoroughly. In addition, we can keep watch of the event throughout the event,” Samuelson said.
All trained officers must become certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. While some community members have raised privacy concerns, the department says the equipment is intended to increase public safety.
"We are not trying to spy on you... But this is for safety reasons,” Stuart said.
The department’s goal is to have at least one drone pilot on every shift. Zionsville added the drone capability without impacting its budget; officer training was funded through a grant.
