Drones have become increasingly popular tools for law enforcement departments across the country. Huntsville, Alabama is one such place, with a very successful drone program that was implemented with careful planning and support from city leaders. The program is increasing in size and scope, and the successes are attracting attention from neighboring agencies. Huntsville, with a population of 216,000, prides itself on being a “technology-driven” city, and has been for much of its history. Huntsville was one of the early homes of the U.S. rocketry programs and that earned it the nickname “The Rocket City.”
Intentional BeginningsHuntsville Police Department first started looking into drones in 2017. Thedepartment was originally looking for drones that could support officers with real-timeintelligence, as well as collecting forensic and crime scene information.
In early 2019, HSVPD sought the counsel and partnership support from our trustedtechnology provider, Westwind Computer Products Inc. regarding what sUAS andsupporting solutions were available. It was found that the Autel Evo II platformsuited our needs and created our foundation of success.
Unlike some other drone programs around the country, this one had support fromcommanders and city leaders. The higher-ups understood the potential value of adrone program. Unlike many programs that start from the ground up, often withpilots bringing drones they personally own, Hunstsville developed a plan for theirprogram long before purchasing drones.
HSVPD took about a year to develop and fine tune their plan and training, withsupport from the police chief and city leaders. This helped them determine missionroles and other important information, allowing them to make the most informeddecisions possible.
HSVPD took an approach they called “patrol embedded.” Drone pilots are patrolofficers working across all precincts. This approach was highly effective for severalreasons.
“These officers can respond to an event in precinct in under 5-10 minutes, or are onscene anyway as part of their patrol duties. We have also found that this modeltakes advantage of the officer’s knowledge of the area and each precincts uniqueneeds.”
A Program that WorksThe drone program quickly proved its worth.“Our first operation year, we flew a little over 300 flights with 9 pilots. Last year, weflew 1,500 plus flights. We are able to provide major support to traffic investigation,drug interdiction, and special teams. It is still work to help everyone understandhow this resource can benefit day-to-day operations, but I am really amazed at thebreadth of mission types we are now flying. For example with traffic investigations,THI usually does not have to wait for a pilot, they are already on scene,” said ChadTillman of Huntsville PD.
Drone use has increased about 300 percent per year, and they’ve played a vital rolein a wide range of police missions.In 2021, HSVPD flew drones 1241 times for a total of 273 flight hours. They have 16Autel EVO IIs and two Brinc Lemurs S drones. They added 16 pilots to their roster,for a total of 21 pilots and 7 in reserve.
Tillman continues on. “About 80% of our mission support flights are rated‘positive effect on mission outcome,’ with 25% rated ‘critical to mission success.’ TheAutel EVO II has been a game changer for us. With its ease of use, long mission timeand durability, we know we can trust our aircraft to perform when called on.”Along with the drones themselves, Autel’s Enterprise add-ons have proven valuable.The ability to stream information via the Live Deck was notably valuable; HSVPD isable to share information with officers in the field, command teams, and otheragencies.
The program’s success has also garnered interest from neighboring agencies.“We are now starting to provide mutual aid to surrounding agencies and the mostcommon comment we hear is. ‘Wow, we sure like your Autels.’ We are also trying to‘guide’ other agencies toward Autel. We love to hear, ‘I wish my 180k drone did whatyour Autel does.’”
What’s Next for HVSPD?HSVPD plans to continue training officers, establishing command and controlinfrastructure, and coordinating with other departments.“We are going to continue with the embedded program. We also are adding trainedVisual Observers. This is being done by offering a class each quarter to train 20-25VOs. We are also going to add a minimum of six pilots a year…We will also betraining senior pilots to function as NAMACC sUAS ops officers and sUAS trafficmanagement. We are building out an sUAS support vehicle and hope to be able toadd a dedicated van in the future.”The budget is an ongoing consideration, though it seems like HSVPD is doing a goodjob of proving the program’s worth, and they’re starting to work with otherdepartments to develop their own drone programs.“We are also beginning up a statewide sUAS working group that focuses on lawenforcement sUAS use. This will be used to bring state agencies together to discuss,train, and plan sUAS programs and usage.”