The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office has upgraded its Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) program with a state-of-the-art drone and new onboard flight technology.
The drone, a DJI Mavic 2, comes equipped with visible and thermal imagery through a dual camera system. That system employs FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) capabilities and will aid in Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts both day and night.
“This new drone gives us the capability of locating a person in distress, even in pitch black conditions, through the use of thermal imagery,” says Sheriff Joey Terrell. “It can enable us to be able to communicate, in real-time, with search and rescue resources on the ground the location of the victim, ground accessibility conditions, and other information critical to ground resource operations. It helps us in public safety to better serve our citizens in situations where time is of the essence.”
The cost of the drone was just under $4600 and included other benefits like the ability to search buildings before entry by a deputy, provide fire department commanders with thermal reporting during a fire or hazmat incident, and document large-scale crime scenes through mapping capabilities.
Pilots can issue commands from the drone using the attached speaker system or activate a strobe light to help guide a missing person to safety.
The Sheriff’s Office currently relies on a partnership with the Georgia State Patrol when requesting air support through their helicopter stationed in Gainesville. During inclement weather, either in Gainesville or between the jurisdictions, the GSP helicopter can not fly.
The new drone will allow for rapid deployment of aerial support in these situations, the sheriff’s office says.
HCSO currently has two licensed UAS pilots and is sending another two to school this year.
