Photo: WGY
The Albany County Sheriff’s Department was joined by community and public safety leaders Wednesday to launch its new Drone Program for Emergency Response.
Two new drones, paid for with criminal money, will be used to mitigate the risk and exposure of staff in search and recovery situations. The tools have the ability to fly up to 400 feet in the air, take photos, deliver supplies and detect heat.
Sheriff Craig Apple says that part of the reason he held Wednesday’s event and demonstration of the machines was to let the public know what the primary use of the drones will be.
“Our priority is rescue and recovery, our priority is not to use it in criminal activity at this point…there are a lot of legal grounds that are going to be tested in the Supreme Court in years to come…it is a new resource and unfortunately with every good resource that law enforcement has…somebody does something bad with it and screws it all up.”
Apple says the drones are both FAA registered and will be flown by FAA Certified Pilots.