Drones might become eyes of police in future

Bartlett grounded the department’s two helicopters not because they did not provide good police service, but because of their high hourly operating costs.

Based on his helicopter service in the military, Bartlett said he believed there were other helicopters available with lower costs that could be acquired.

When that time comes the department may want to look beyond helicopters into the growing field of drones — either the winged or helicopter type.

About 30 years ago — and far from Tulsa — it was seen that drones could be used for law enforcement.

It happened over Beirut when the Israeli military had gone into Lebanon and was watching events inside the city with drones.

They were rudimentary with grainy, black and white video transmitted to the ground from drones powered by what amounted to lawn mower engines.

Israeli soldiers were watching some suspicious activity by some men in Beirut. They puzzled over what they were up to.

Finally, the puzzle pieces came together.

The fuzzy action pictures being download showed a car being stolen.

Drones today are more advanced, they can be equipped to show better defined video in color or infrared or throw light on the ground, just as manned helicopters do.

They are also smaller, quieter and less expensive to operate.

In June at the Oklahoma Aerospace Summit & Expo, Lindsay Voss, an industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan said that she saw unmanned vehicles and systems being used for crop surveys, law enforcement and, even, for watching OSU football, her alma mater.

By their small size and low noise levels and able to operate at much lower altitudes than even today’s helicopters, these unmanned vehicles may even prove more versatile for police work.

Tough times lead to innovation and the Tulsa Police Department could become a leader in using drones for police work.

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