The Oklahoma City Police Department on Wednesday unveiled two drones for use at the scenes of traffic accidents and outdoor crimes. The drone program cost about $50,000 and will help investigators create 3D renderings of scenes. “This helps investigators with accident reconstruction and properly documenting crime scenes and any evidence that might be present,” Police Capt. Larry Withrow said.
Police demonstrated the drones outside downtown headquarters.
There are five licensed drone pilots in the department’s traffic unit, and one licensed pilot in the crime scene unit, Withrow said. The department is “seeking to increase those numbers over time,” he said. In recent years, drone use has become common in public safety agencies across the country, from crime scene investigations and accessing explosive devices to hostage negotiations and even missing person cases. There are more than 1,500 state and local police, sheriff, fire and emergency services agencies in the U.S. that are believed to have acquired drones, according to the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. Researchers tallied the numbers from local media reports, publicly-available U.S. Federal Aviation Administration records and state and local government records.California and Texas public safety agencies deploy more drones than any other state, at 140 agencies and 115 agencies respectively, according to a March update by the drone study center. In Oklahoma, at least 21 public safety agencies use drones. Up-front equipment costs for a public safety drone is nearly $29,000 on average, according to researchers. In some U.S. cities, drones are being used to monitor groups in public and enforce lockdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
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