How can law enforcement agencies use drones to support their operations?

As various industries start employing drones to improve productivity and reduce costs, law enforcement agencies around the world are also increasingly looking at how they can leverage drone technology. Here are four ways drones can benefit law enforcement:

Crime Scene Reconstruction
Drones (with the right mapping software) can quickly create extremely detailed 3D maps of crime scenes that allow police to quickly clear out the actual crime scene while providing objective mission critical evidence for officers to study in full depth. A great example of such a crime scene is homicide investigation.

Rapid Accident Reconstruction
Car crash investigation is a long, tedious, and potentially dangerous process. Accident investigators could be spending as much as 8 hours at the scene of a fatal. A quick mapping of the accident site means lesser time for the police to be on-site and quicker time for the traffic to start flowing in normal state. In fact, during June 2017, a freeway was re-opened in record time due to the use of UAS and 3D mapping technology.

Fatal motorcycle collision being mapped out by a department flying SkyeBrowse

SWAT Location Intelligence
Drones can be extremely useful in dealing with potential disasters and threats. Detailed 3D maps can be very helpful to the on-site law enforcement in situations such as a bomb threat where a 3D map can be used to study the surrounding area and understand the potential impact of the bombing. Similarly, a detailed 3D map can be useful in a hostage scenario for having a better look at the entry and exit points. SkyeBrowse’s rapid 3D modeling technology allows SWAT teams to gather location intelligence in a matter of minutes.

5 minute 3D model of the house of SkyeBrowse co-founder, Bobby Ouyang (not raided by SWAT)

Disaster Management and Relief
Drones have already been used to study the impact of disasters such as landslides, earthquakes and forest fires among other scenarios. 3D mapping provides excellent detailed overview of the damage and helps in recovery by providing the right options to prioritize and focus. Combined with the right software, drone imagery assists both search & rescue and reconstruction of the disaster sites.

Property damage caused by microburst mapped out by flying SkyeBrowse