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30 May 2023
The Michigan Supreme Court is hearing a case that may resonate across the rest of the country.
The basic question is whether government agencies can use a drone for surveillance without first getting a warrant?&nbsp;
In this case, the dispute at hand involves a zoning-ordinance violation by a Traverse City salvage yard, but the matter could set a precedent for enforcement crews seeking to gather data for other matters.
The civil matter involves Todd and Heather Maxon's salvage yard&mdash;which Long Lake Township suspects is creating a nuisance. A drone was dispatched to take photos around the property to determine whether the Maxons were indeed violating zoning laws.
The couple fought back, arguing that aerial photos violated their constitutional right against unreasonable searches.&nbsp;
"Like every American, I have a right to be secure on my property without being watched by a government drone," stated Todd Maxon.
However, the situation has more than a few active threads...
It all started in 2007, when the government claimed Maxon was illegally storing "junk" on the property, and brought a code enforcement lawsuit against him. Maxon won that suit in 2008, and also received a promise that further zoning-enforcement actions would not be taken based upon "the same facts and circumstances which were revealed during the course of discovery (from the original suit).
However, a new lawsuit filed by the government in 2018, stated the vehicles aren't visible "from any ground-level public vantage point."
The government had also hired a drone pilot to gather enforcement data on alleged code violations, and Maxon's property was photographed three times over a two-year period.
&ldquo;If the government wants to conduct intrusive surveillance like this, the Fourth Amendment requires that it get a warrant,&rdquo; &nbsp;stated lawyer Mike Greenberg of the Institute for Justice. &ldquo;The zoning authority&rsquo;s failure to even try to get one shows their indifference to Michiganders&rsquo; constitutional rights.&rdquo;
However, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided that even if the drone flights violated the Maxons&rsquo; Fourth Amendment rights, the government should still be allowed to use the evidence obtained from the unconstitutional search in court, reasoning that Fourth Amendment protection doesn&rsquo;t apply to investigators hunting for zoning code violations. It also ruled that evidence obtained from drone photography can be used in civil code enforcement proceedings.
Maxon's appeal states the Fourth Amendment applies to all government officials, and if the lower court&rsquo;s decision stands, the government could freely spy on anyone.
&ldquo;This is bigger than just some drones flying over my home,&rdquo; said Maxon. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not safe from this kind of surveillance, nobody will be.&rdquo;
The appeal is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to rule that the government indeed violated Maxon&rsquo;s Fourth Amendment rights, and that it can&rsquo;t use illegally obtained data in court.
&ldquo;Americans have a right to be secure in their homes and backyards without being watched by a government drone,&rdquo; said Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Robert Frommer. &ldquo;The difference between a peeping tom and a lawful investigation is a judicially authorized warrant.&rdquo;

Michigan Supreme Court to Rule on "Drone Snooping"

26 May 2023
A parolee exhibiting suspicious behavior was tracked by Seal Beach, California, police with a drone equipped with an infrared camera. The suspect was apprehended safely after the drone revealed his location. More and more law-enforcement forces are deploying drones to assist with police work and surveillance.
<h5>Watch the Police Drone in Action</h5>
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Police Drone Uses Infrared Camera to Track suspect

27 April 2023
Donuts and drones. San Francisco supervisors&mdash;and the City District Attorney&mdash;are looking to deploy police drones to keep an eye on potentially dangerous car side shows, where drivers meet to do donuts and other stunts.
"Sideshows are a growing problem in my district," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who feels that drones can monitor the "pop up" events, capture license plate numbers, and identify participants from a safe distance.
This week, Mandelman&mdash;along with supervisors Myrna Melgar, Matt Dorsey, Ahsha Safai, and Catherine Stefani&mdash;submitted a letter of inquiry asking San Francisco's Committee on Information Technology to work with the police to recommend a drone action for full board approval.
"This is a common-sense solution that will deter this dangerous behavior and provide useful evidence that will assist in prosecution," stated SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
However, some are concerned the police may also deploy drone surveillance in other areas, such as residential districts. Once the COIT and SFPD develop the policy, it will require approval from the Board of Supervisors before it can be activated.

San Francisco Wants Drones Monitoring Side Shows

Product News

2 March 2023
<a href="https://brincdrones.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BRINC</a>&mdash;an American developer and manufacturer of technology in the service of public safety&mdash;today announced the release of its next-generation drone, <a href="https://brincdrones.com/?utm_source=pr&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=l2&amp;utm_content=pressrelease" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LEMUR 2</a>.&nbsp;
LEMUR 2 is specially designed to enable law enforcement and public-safety professionals to survey dangerous areas, assess a threat profile, and de-escalate conflict without putting individuals in harm's way.&nbsp;
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/SszKJY2IJ3krut68jf63Afd8FGVCnFrwxH5zF2aq.png" alt="" width="464" height="180" />
Founded in 2018, BRINC&rsquo;s first drone&mdash;the LEMUR&mdash;introduced two-way communication capabilities, a glass breaker, and optimized systems for indoor flight.
<h5>Watch the LEMUR 2 In Action!</h5>
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The LEMUR 2 introduces the BRINC proprietary Autonomy Engine, where the drone&rsquo;s onboard LiDAR sensor creates a 3D map of its surroundings in real time to enable a suite of capabilities&mdash;including a 360-degree standby hover that doesn&rsquo;t rely on light or GPS systems, as well as an obstacle-awareness system that dynamically adjusts speed around objects while still providing complete control to the drone operator for tactical maneuvers. The BRINC LEMUR 2 is National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) compliant, and the company has been approved by the U.S. government for its products to be used by federal agencies and contractors.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/F0QMOQxKKEiDsjEmTe4P01DAXROr35t92J9kGE1c.png" alt="" width="483" height="483" />
&ldquo;Today marks the next step of our journey to advance drone technology in the service of public safety," commented BRINC CEO Blake Resnick. "Our mission is to revolutionize public safety by leveraging technology to de-escalate dangerous situations. Each drone deployed is one less individual put in harm's way. The LEMUR 2 is the next era of first-response technology that will undoubtedly make law enforcement and emergency services in our country more efficient and safer for all involved.&rdquo;
In addition to the LEMUR 2 Autonomy Engine is a first-of-its-kind sensor array that combines ten unique systems&mdash;including a LiDAR sensor, tracking camera, multiple night-vision illuminators, a spotlight with strobe, 4K camera, FLIR thermal imager, microphone, and loudspeaker&mdash;to support autonomous operation, visual/night/thermal imaging, and two-way comms. Video and data is transmitted locally to a custom BRINC controller, and encrypted using AES-256 protocols. The LEMUR 2 is also mesh-network compatible, allowing for multiple drones to extend each other's range in large buildings or underground. With an integrated 4G LTE-powered connection, LEMUR 2 drones can securely stream a live-camera view and 2D floor plans to off-site stakeholders through the new BRINC LiveOps web platform.
&ldquo;Throughout our journey, we have worked with past and present law enforcement and emergency services professionals to understand their unique challenges and enhance their ability to do difficult jobs safely with best-in-class technology," stated Resnick. "We look forward to building upon our success and continually pushing the boundaries of what BRINC can offer to benefit public safety.&rdquo;
<h5>Watch! Blake Resnick Talks About the LEMUR 2</h5>
In an exclusive bonus for The Droning Company readers, Chris "The Drone Geek" Favel was able to interview Resnick about the new LEMUR 2 for his LTD Podcast.
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<h5>About BRINC</h5>
BRINC manufactures its products in the U.S., has co-located R&amp;D and production facilities at its Seattle headquarter, and is vertically integrated to control its supply chain. BRINC is also investing in a safer tomorrow by developing a&nbsp;network of docked-drone systems to respond to 911 calls quickly and effectively, moving response time from minutes or hours into seconds, while providing the capabilities to enable a "de-escalation-first" approach to public safety.
&nbsp;

BRINC Releases LEMUR 2

1 March 2023
By Chris &ldquo;<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheDroneGeek/">The Drone Geek</a>&rdquo; Fravel
Blake Resnick is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://brincdrones.com">BRINC Drones</a>, a USA-based drone manufacturer designing UAV solutions to protect first responders in real-world situations.
BRINC Drones was started in response to the tragic events that unfolded on October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada when a shooter opened fire into a crowd of concertgoers attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Resnick was committed to providing first-responders such as police, fire, and medical a tool that would allow them to safely survey an area or structure to gather as much data as possible about a developing situation before sending human beings in for further response and investigation efforts.
Since Resnick established the company, BRINC has grown exponentially, becoming one of the leading UAV manufacturers in the United States for emergency response and tactical operation.
In this episode of the <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2z2NJgerLIlkGUfQAuWdbg?si=9b261a8ed9224436">LTD Podcast</a>, we talk with Resnick about his start in the world of UAVs and get familiar with BRINC as a company and what solutions they offer their clients.
<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwURoay_5tc">Check out Part II of this podcast</a> on Thursday, March 2nd at 12:00 PM EST for an exciting announcement from Resnick and BRINC.
<h5>Watch Let's Talk Drones</h5>
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Interview: Blake Resnick of BRINC Drones

22 February 2023
As a 911 dispatcher for Rogers, Arkansas, <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.uvt.us/blog/blog-3/chris-fink-nwas-newest-forty-under-40-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Fink </a>was introduced to the incredible, lifesaving work our nation&rsquo;s first responders shoulder every day. He quickly became familiar with the need for additional support and resources to keep communities and public-safety professionals safe. This understanding&mdash;combined with Fink's passion for technology&mdash;propelled him to start <a href="https://www.uvt.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unmanned Vehicle Technologies</a> (UVT) in 2014.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/aXEiL4wjWrnIZzXIpjN48lIAjUcT8ZWIr6GFjOc6.jpg" alt="" width="146" height="195" />
UVT founder and CEO Chris Fink
Today, UVT is one of the largest drone and robotics dealers in North America, supporting more than 2,400 government agencies and businesses&mdash;including Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Game &amp; Fish, Ozarks Electric Cooperative, and the University of Arkansas Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies. The company also offers mission-critical technical and operational fleet-support services.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/VIW07sCKz9vFLvsuCv45LvbokmxR84b5SGXQGrJS.png" alt="" width="660" height="396" /> UVT provides drone training and delivery to public safety personnel. 
<h5>Drone Technology: A Look Into the Future</h5>
For those invested in the public safety industry, overcoming obstacles for first responders in the hopes of responding quicker&mdash;and with more intelligence&mdash;while saving more people has always been the goal. Currently, officers responding to an emergency call are at the mercy of the information passed on by dispatch. Often inaccurate and almost always incomplete, what&rsquo;s really happening at the scene is obscure and largely unknown until first responders arrive. While a drone provides overwatch and enhanced visibility for an emergency scene, the future of drones is plain and simple&mdash;it's autonomy.
Unmanned aerial vehicle systems with the ability to remotely and/or autonomously launch, fly assigned missions, and return to land for data extraction are quickly becoming the standard for public safety. UVT's <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.uvt.us/dfr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drones As First Responder Program</a> seeks to provide emergency teams the tools to engage faster, smarter, and safer. For example, drones remotely deploying to a house fire provide overwatch and thermal imaging to first responders, allowing emergency personnel to concentrate their fire attack&mdash;all of which saves time, resources, and, most importantly, lives. The same is true of drones deploying out of a docking station on top of a substation to check for anomalies that might have caused an outage.
Autonomy is the future, because drones being put to work for us&mdash;not with us&mdash;means these autonomous vehicles and systems do the work we don&rsquo;t want to, is too dangerous, or shouldn&rsquo;t be doing.
For those concerned about drones and robotics in the workplace, this isn&rsquo;t technology taking human jobs. Drones and robots are augmenting the jobs we&rsquo;re already doing. For many, the realization comes through education and an understanding of the technology&rsquo;s full potential to help us work better, safer, and more efficiently to ensure everyone can go home safely. UVT's passion for drone and robotics technology comes from an intimate understanding of how these devices are currently being used to save lives, as well as knowing what&rsquo;s possible as more government and enterprise entities adopt the technology to better serve their communities. We can&rsquo;t predict the future, but we can promise we will be here for the drone operators who won&rsquo;t take no for an answer. We will be here to support the police and fire departments who will stop at nothing to lower their response times. After all, that&rsquo;s what this is all about&mdash;leveraging technology to do the dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs better. 
<h5>UVT In Action</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/HDFRdfuVhwF0ZNTZbuOLEuIzIpSUppQrxaAkoQ9c.png" alt="" width="612" height="301" />
The UVT team.
First and foremost, we are partners. We exist to equip organizations with the most advanced unmanned aircraft and robotics technology, supported by our industry-leading mission-critical technical and operational <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.uvt.us/proline-fleet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fleet support services</a>. Our <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.uvt.us/proline-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">operational support</a> has been built with your mission in mind, and our commitment to you is that we are here for you, day and night.
The UVT team is composed of many current and former public servants, enabling us to use our experience as first responders to design and build custom solutions for the real-world problems you and your team face every day.&nbsp;
Team members, such as our Field Applications Specialists, sales personnel, and technicians have spent thousands of hours in the field, deploying, flying, testing, and analyzing the platforms we provide. Why? Because we use them ourselves, and we understand how this technology can be critical to your missions&rsquo; success.
Our support is built on our loyalty to you, your safety, and our dedication to ensure we keep you operational, day or night.&nbsp;

Company Profile: Unmanned Vehicle Technologies 

Tactical and Law Enforcement

01 January 2023
We sat down with Stephen Baxley, founder and CEO of <a href="https://airworxdrone.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airworx Unmanned Solutions</a>, to find out more about Drone First Responder programs and how drones, in general, are being used in public safety today. Airworx is a South Carolina based, end-to-end drone and robotics solutions provider, dedicated and focused on public safety.&nbsp;
Airworx was launched in 2017, after Baxley&mdash;who is a serial entrepreneur and active law-enforcement officer&mdash;was given a drone by one of his clients from another business venture. 
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t really interested in drones," he admits. "I didn&rsquo;t understand them, or what they could provide me as a tool, and they didn&rsquo;t interest me as a toy. But after I launched the drone and put it up a couple of hundred feet in the air for the first time, I immediately had an epiphany. This is the future. All I could do was imagine how this can help me and fellow law-enforcement officers with intelligence and search and rescue&mdash;how it could reduce risk and save lives.&rdquo;
<h5>Supporting Public Safety</h5>
Airworx's mission was to learn everything about drone technology, manufacturers, rules, regulations, laws, and use cases&plusmn;specifically in the public-safety arena. Quickly earning his Part 107 Certificate and building relationships with vendors and manufacturers, Baxley was able to acquire some of the latest technology at the time, and begin to offer demonstrations to public safety to gain knowledge about interest, budgeting, sales cycles, training needs, etc. 
In January 2019, Airworx became an end-to-end solutions provider for public safety, offering aircraft systems, payloads, consulting, training&mdash;even underwater ROV solutions for forensic recovery. 
&ldquo;Any robotic system we can learn how to effectively use and duplicate success with&mdash;that is our main interest and goal," says Baxley. "We integrate that tool to reduce risk and save lives&rdquo;. 
As of December 2022, Airworx has assisted hundreds of public safety agencies in 43 states with robotic solutions, consulting, or training. From selling a drone system (Airworx is a ln-Enterprise dealer for DJI, Autel, Teledyne Flir and Paladin, and other solutions and software options)&mdash;or the company's own Go-Command monitor case series&mdash;to full integration of drone systems, consulting, and training based on their real-world knowledge of active public safety program administration.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/N9tLAmro9XPa5ZT6P03ffHGlTCXKplklw1Ecsjt0.jpg" alt="" width="634" height="692" />
<h5>Drone First Responder</h5>
In early 2022, while on-duty at Easley Police Department, South Carolina, Baxley walked in to his Chief&rsquo;s office and said, &ldquo;I want to tell you about something we need here&mdash;it's the future of call response. It&rsquo;s called Drone First Responder." 
After explaining the theory of DFR, Chief Stan Whitten said &ldquo;let&rsquo;s do it&rdquo;. In June 2022, a partnership between Airworx and Paladin Drones (Houston, Texas) began to build out a pilot program of Drone First Responder for the City of Easley Police and Fire Departments. Paladin is a software/hardware solution provider that designed a platform&mdash;Watchtower&mdash;as well as an LTE module used to allow drones to fly beyond visual line of sight over a cellular connection, far beyond the limits of the radio-controlled ground station. Along with this partnership, one of the first dozen or so BVLOS Part 91 COA&rsquo;s was issued by the FAA to the City of Easley. 
&ldquo;This technology and authorization by the FAA allows us to respond to any call for service that comes in to our communication center&mdash;be it a fire/rescue call, or a law-enforcement response," explains Baxley. "Any call our pilot feels they can gain intelligence to de-escalate, reduce risk, or save a life on, they launch the DFR drone, Eagle One. We have flown as many as seven calls in one hour with our DFR program.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<h5>Tactical and Traditional Drone Response&nbsp;</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/L97J1wZoX1QH6SjoQvMOXQORYbFSUkYAINdl8PeA.jpg" alt="" width="626" height="469" />
In addition to this DFR program, Easley Police and Fire Departments also have tactical drone programs, as they have split the two DFR operations to better define them. The tactical drone operation is your more traditional drone response operation, where the drone is launched on-scene in VLOS. Easley has six drones assigned to the police department, and one drone assigned to the fire department. The pilots are all active and certified police officers or firefighters, and they&rsquo;re part 107 certificated, as well. 
Easley responds to calls such as missing persons, elderly walk-offs, robberies, trespassing, fleeing suspects, alarms, SWAT interior ops, pre-warrant service, traffic collisions, fire scenes, and more. The drone pilots always have a drone with them. 
&ldquo;Just a week ago, I was called out at 4:30 am for a SWAT support mission," says Baxley. "We had a suspect that had shot into a moving vehicle and was possibly holed up in his house. After securing the warrant, we decided to breach the door and fly a small tactical drone in to gain intelligence. This allows us to reduce risk for both our officers and the suspect, and de-escalate from the start. I was able to clear possible threats from the small home in around one minute, and allow our SWAT team to enter with more knowledge.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<h5>The Airworx Advantage&nbsp;&nbsp;</h5>
Partnering with Airworx has an advantage. Not only do you get all the same product and solutions you can find with other large companies&mdash;at the same restricted pricing structures&mdash;you get the small company, personalized support and aftersales service. You also get the real-world knowledge of several Airworx team members&mdash;all of which are active LEO&rsquo;s in multiple states around the country. The entire Airworx team is populated with seasoned public-safety professionals who operate and manage drone programs for their respective agencies. 
&ldquo;We know the operation, how it works, and how to use it&mdash;not just the theory,&rdquo; says Baxley.&nbsp;
In addition to aerial drones and underwater ROV systems, Airworx also offers tactical UGV or robots. With or without arm/claw manipulators, UGV systems can be used for recon and intelligence gathering in everyday calls for patrol officers. No licensing or restrictions make having a small recon robot available to every patrol vehicle less complicated. Robots can be a major asset in risk-reduction and de-escalation.
<h5>Learn More</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/l7yOffzaFibnSWApXmqGXLGh5uciBY6bX0pdrffK.png" alt="" width="164" height="150" />
<a href="https://airworxdrone.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airworx Unmanned Solutions website</a>.
<a href="https://airworxdrone.com/collections/unmanned-ground-robots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airworx UGVs.&nbsp;</a>

Company Profile: Airworx Unmanned Solutions

Above Photo: Hurricane Maria damage at Marsh Harbor, Puerto Rico [Courtesy C. Todd/AIRT].
12 December 2022
As Unmanned Aircraft Systems began to make a foothold in public safety, there were very few resources available to guide public safety departments through the procurement and implementation of a UAS program.
In April 2019, <a href="https://www.droneresponders.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DRONERESPONDERS</a> was launched as a nonprofit program under the umbrella of the Airborne International Response Team (AIRT, a 501C3 nonprofit organization). The first initiative was to create an online Resource Center to provide SOPs, best practices, lessons learned, checklists, risk assessments, Certificate of Authorization (COA) waiver guidance, and more.
Today, the DRONERESPONDERS online Resource Center is the largest repository in the world, and has more than 800 documents to provide guidance resources. The Resource Center is available to DRONERESPONDERS members and membership for all is free. The DRONERESPONDERS organization is built on inclusiveness and is open to all public safety, government, nongovernmental organizations, industry, and academia.
<h5>Watch!</h5>
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DRONERESPONDERS conducted several public safety UAS research studies to better understand the state of public safety UAS. The studies provided insights to the number of remote pilots, the number of mission deployments and the types of public safety UAS use cases.
In 2020, research revealed there were 17 major use case categories of which many could be further broken down into four or five sub categories making the total of specific use cases to more than 50. The use cases spanned across all public safety disciplines of fire, law enforcement, emergency management, EMS, search and rescue, and hazmat. The studies also estimated there were more than 5000 public safety agencies in the U.S. that have implemented UAS programs with more agencies adding programs daily.
One of the earliest initiatives was to develop a Community Outreach Program Guide that could be customized and used by localities to conduct community outreach to facilitate transparency and community acceptance. This includes town hall meetings, sharing policies/procedures, and conducting demonstrations, and it is the most important step to launching a successful public safety UAS Program. As part of this process, it is critical to practice with policies and procedures that ensure the public trust.
DRONERESPONDERS partnered with Skydio to create the Five C&rsquo;s.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Community Engagement and Transparency</li>
<li>Civil Liberties and Privacy Protection</li>
<li>Common Operating Procedures</li>
<li>Clear Oversight and Accountability</li>
<li>Cybersecurity</li>
</ul>
In 2019, DRONERESPONDERS partnered with AUVSI and Commercial UAV Expo to provide annual national public safety UAS conferences in the United States to provide training content, and to expand networking opportunities across public safety agencies with UAS programs and for those interested in starting programs. DRONERESPONDERS helps to facilitate mentoring opportunities to match new UAS programs with more mature programs.
DRONERESPONDERS partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and received a grant to help expand the promotion and use of the NIST Standard Test Methods for Public Safety UAS. These standardized test methods include numerous test lanes both obstructed and unobstructed to be used to objectively evaluate remote pilot practical skill proficiency.
DRONERESPONDERS serves as an auditor to ensure the proper buildout of these test lanes for public safety agencies across the United States.
DRONERESPONDERS had several partnerships in 2022. First involved a three-year Space Act Agreement with NASA to collaborate on ways to ensure the safety of national airspace by reviewing COA&rsquo;s and CONOPS to develop and share best practices, enhancing safety cases and exploring new safety concepts. The NASA collaboration also involves work on exploring new and larger UAS for wildfire operations.
Another partnership was with the Canada Emergency Responder Robotics Association (CERRA). This partnership encourages the sharing of information, collaboration between airspace regulators and pushing for advancement of public safety UAS programs across U.S. and Canadian borders.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/oRGm3mcKe4j1K0ZLbu2TlnRS458J8kdcluNqPp7L.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="261" />
Civil War Statue Protest, Richmond Virginia [Photo courtesy York County VA Fire].
One of the major areas of confusion/frustration involves Federal Aviation Administration regulations. In 2020, DRONERESPONDERS began a free monthly webinar series with the FAA on the second Wednesday of each month at 4 pm EST, where the FAA can share regulatory information and answer questions directly from webinar participants. The purpose was to help provide more clarity on the various rules and regulations as it relates to public safety UAS operations. Generally, there are between 45 to 60 questions asked and promptly answered. This also serves as a listening opportunity where the FAA can get direct feedback on the wants and needs from public safety.
The relationship with the FAA has continued to be positive where DRONERESPONDERS, working with public safety agencies, helped in the development and approval of a tactical beyond visual line of sight (TBVLOS) waiver that allowed for the first time to fly dangerous missions (i.e. active shooter, hazmat, etc.) beyond visual line of sight, and removing the remote pilot from harm&rsquo;s way. To date, more than 300 public safety agencies have approved TBVLOS waivers. Additionally, DRONERESPONDERS worked with the FAA to publish and distribute a step-by-step COA guide through the application process that was authored by Brandon Karr with FAA guidance.
Following the lead of the Chula Vista Police Department&rsquo;s original Drone as a First Responder (DFR) Program, which launches a drone immediately at time of 911 dispatch to fly to and give eyes on the incident scene prior to arrival of responding ground units. This provides early and critical real-time situational awareness to the dispatchers and the responders. This serves as a force multiplier, and has become one of the best law enforcement de-escalation tools.&nbsp;
From this point, DRONERESPONDERS created a National DFR WG, that meets monthly to share department successes to further advance DFR programs. Presently, DRONERESPONDERS is working with the FAA to develop a DFR Guidance Template to more quickly approve DFR waivers.
In 2022, DRONERESPONDERS announced a partnership with UAS Norway to launch the DFR International Initiative to help propagate this program around the world.
DRONERESPONDERS research further identified the need for standardized training, and in 2022, partnered with MITRE to begin the development of the first public safety remote-pilot training-curriculum standard. To accomplish this, representatives from every public safety discipline across the U.S. have been assembled to guide this new training-curriculum standard. This standard will address the knowledge and practical skills necessary for basic indoor and outdoor UAS flight operations to establish a foundation on which to build additional and more advanced flight training curriculum standards.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/OCSGyCpjBtGeG0jEb5rCJhyMQxyTwjIXxasO7MC7.jpg" alt="" width="493" height="369" />
Florida International University Bridge Collapse [Photo ccourtesy C. Todd/AIRT].
Another way to increase adoption was through the development of a <a href="dashboard.DRONERESPONDERS.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Public Safety Drone Directory/Dashboard</a> which was accomplished through a partnership with the NASA AMES Research Institute and ESRI. This directory/dashboard now has more than 1200 public safety agencies listed and sharing their UAS program information such as start date, number of remote pilots, type aircraft, mission types and more. It also serves as a way to facilitate cooperative networking and training.
The interest in DRONERESPONDERS began to grow and currently there is the beginning of State branches to further expand the organization&rsquo;s efforts through expanded reach at the state, local and tribal levels. The first state branch of DRONERESPONDERS started in Florida, and is successfully sharing information between programs, networking, and conducting regional training. Other states have expressed interest and discussions are underway.
The healthy balance of the UAS ecosystem involves three different areas of interest&mdash;enabling drones for good, countering bad actors with drones, and air traffic management.
DRONERESPONDERS is actively working in each of these areas to ensure public safety participation and representation. It has just launched a Counter UAS WG and is actively involved in air traffic management discussions.
Today, DRONERESPONDERS has grown to more than 7000 members, participation from 85 countries and 400+ international members, over 1700 LinkedIn followers. It has also organized the following working groups: National DFR WG, Major Cities WG, Women in Public Safety WG, UAS Program Manager WG and Counter UAS WG.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/DKazqZb4a6eYir6VUeXhqXlefCcWeva1aHEShkwo.jpg" alt="" width="644" height="362" />
Miami Surfside Condominium Collapse [Photo courtesy C. Todd/AIRT].
Lastly, UAS is evolving into package delivery and Advanced Air Mobility. Each of these have an impact on public safety. Package delivery may be for immediate delivery of Narcan to reverse opioid overdoses, defibrillators, transporting organs, delivering blood and delivery of medications/vaccines to underserved communities. Advanced Air Mobility provides the introduction of air ambulances, larger wildfire firefighting drones and much more AND DRONERESPONDERS will be actively engaged through this exciting journey.
DRONERESPONDERS work was recognized in 2020 by AUVSI as the First Place Public Safety Excellence work and in 2022 by American Security Today ASTOR&rsquo;s Homeland Security Excellence Award.

DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance

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29 November 2022
Excerpted from the <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.utahbusiness.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utah Business</a> article by&nbsp;<a class="edgtf-post-info-author-link" style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.utahbusiness.com/author/elainna-ciaramella/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-wpel-link="internal">Elainna Ciaramella</a>
The<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://wildlife.utah.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-wpel-link="external"> Utah Division of Wildlife Resources</a> (DWR) has launched a team of five drone law-enforcement officers to more effectively solve wildlife crimes while assisting other law-enforcement agencies in their investigations and search-and-rescue efforts.
According to <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-bettridge-71855369/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-wpel-link="external">Chad Bettridge</a>, captain at the DWR, the drone team has been in the works for a while. By September 2022, each of the agency&rsquo;s drone operators had completed FAA training and obtained their pilot licenses.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The DWR created the drone program to aid our officers with their investigations," explains Bettridge. "This help can come through increased documentation of crime scenes and locating evidence. Often, our incident scenes can be from one mountainside to another. The drone will increase our ability to document and understand how a situation may have occurred.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/DAo2gObG2Tj5aZlcbpyZc1bTLHrhjxqKpXA5hfQt.png" alt="" width="455" height="303" />
Investigating illegally killed wildlife and trespassing are two major wildlife crimes the drones will help with. The drones can also be very effective in assisting search-and-rescue teams in locating lost and injured people.
In August and September of this year, there were 25 illegally-killed deer and 13 illegally-killed elk documented by DWR officers. The DWR hopes the drones will be helpful in locating illegally-killed animals in the future, as well as mapping out the location of where the incidents occurred.&nbsp;
The DWR has roughly 55 patrol officers covering the entire state. Increasing officers&rsquo; efficiency with investigations will greatly benefit the agency and the people of Utah, Bettridge says.
According to Bettridge, some of the more common hunting violations dealing with big game are when a hunter misidentifies what they are shooting at. For example, a hunter with a tag to take a spike bull elk may shoot either a cow elk or a branch-antlered bull instead.
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<div class="vc_empty_space">If the hunter contacts the DWR about the mistake, it&rsquo;s a less serious violation than if the hunter just leaves the dead elk on the mountain. Penalties can range from a misdemeanor (or less) to a felony, based on the hunter&rsquo;s actions.&nbsp;</div>
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Trespassing on private property is also a common violation. The DWR would potentially use drones to locate carcasses purposefully or accidentally left on the mountain, to map how far an individual was hunting outside of the area they have the permit for, or to map the boundary of private property and record how the property is posted.&nbsp;
What about fur-bearing animals?
Bettridge says Utah does have a bobcat season where trappers with the proper permits can trap bobcats and other furbearers. This is a highly-regulated activity, and DWR officers spend a lot of time during the late winter and early spring making sure people follow the rules.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s common for traps to be placed in very remote locations, and there are rules about how often a person must check on their traps.
&ldquo;The drone would allow us to potentially check on a person&rsquo;s trapping gear without walking up to the trap," says Bettridge. "This would allow us to gather information without the person knowing that we have been there."
Wildlife crimes and poaching are serious and can have life-altering<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://wildlife.utah.gov/know-consequences.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-wpel-link="external">&nbsp;consequences</a>, such as fines, jail time, restitution, confiscation of hunting equipment, and loss of hunting privileges across 49 states (with the exception of Hawaii). This is due to the Wildlife Violator Compact, an agreement across member states that honors each other&rsquo;s decisions to deny hunting privileges such as licenses and permits to poachers.
When someone is convicted of possessing protected wildlife or illegal killing, it&rsquo;s common for them to make restitution payments ranging from $2,000 to $30,000, depending on the animal. The minimum fine for killing a bison is $6,000, and the minimum fine for killing a deer with a 24-inch antler spread or larger is $8,000. For a bighorn sheep, the fine starts at $30,000.
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<div id="utahb-1750349698" class="utahb-target" data-utahb-trackid="70535" data-utahb-trackbid="1">According to a DWR press release: &ldquo;During this fall&rsquo;s hunts, conservation officers have contacted roughly 13,700 individuals and inspected the hunting licenses of 4,347 people from August 1 to September 23. During those interactions, the officers discovered 319 illegally killed animals&mdash;including big-game animals, fish, waterfowl and furbearer species. Of the animals killed, 39 were big-game species. During that time frame, officers issued 569 citations, and they will continue to investigate other violations and turn them over to the court system.&rdquo;</div>
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<h5 class="utahb-target" data-utahb-trackid="70535" data-utahb-trackbid="1">The DWR Drone Squad in Action</h5>
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Utah's Wildlife Drone Squad Investigates Poaching

Interviews

23 September 2022
The Droning Company's resident "Drone Geek," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQxOTa4LLKjx-qMsF0V9ong" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Fravel,</a> interviews Will Hudler and Brett Kanda of <a href="https://brincdrones.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BRINC Drones</a> at the 2022 Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas, Sept 6-8, 2022.
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