Sheriff’s department uses drone to assist in searches

DOVER, N.H. —

A sheriff’s department in New Hampshire is one of a growing number of law enforcement agencies starting to use drones in their operations.

The Strafford County Sheriff’s Department recently acquired a search-and-rescue drone equipped with multiple cameras, including a thermal imaging camera. The department’s chief technology officer, Skip Christenbury, said the device will play a key role in public safety.

“You think about it, you had to have a helicopter before,” he said. “And a helicopter couldn’t get to the altitudes that this flies at. You just see the world in a whole different environment.”

With nearly 400 square miles in Strafford County, the department looked for ways to cover more ground.

“You look at natural disasters, you look at flooding situations, ice blocks in rivers, firefighting applications to find hot spots on burns that they’re working on,” Sheriff David Dubois said.

The department recently trained personnel with a missing-person scenario at the Riverside Rest Home across the street. With the drone flying at an altitude as high as 400 feet, Christenbury could see for miles.

During the scenario, deputies were able to find the missing person in 30 minutes. This time, a bloodhound found the person, but the drone assisted by allowing officials to get an overview of the search location that would have otherwise required a dedicated line search.

“What it does is it gives us an added layer for us that we know we have that as a backup,” Dubois said. “We’re really fortunate to be a part of Strafford County, where we have that.”

Drones aren’t only being used in Strafford County. The Derry Police Department has its own fleet.

“We have seven (pilots) here at the department, seven at the fire department and seven at Town Hall,” Officer Jeff Pike said.

Pike said the drones have already paid off, allowing officers to investigate crash scenes and survey dangerous areas before first responders arrive.

“We can fly them around a crash scene, and it allows us to do a 3D diagram of the accident scene,” he said. “It allows us to do it a lot quicker than we’d do with prisms and lasers.”

After 20 years on the force in Strafford County, Christenbury said he cherishes still being at the controls of protecting the public.

“At the tail end of my career, if someone said this is what I’d be doing, I would never have believed it,” he said. “It’s very fun flying.”

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