Drones in Public Safety

Hello,

I'm Garret, the owner of Altitude Hobbies. In addition to having started and owned Altitude Hobbies since 2011, I am also a police sergeant, FAA part 107-certified public safety drone operator, and manager of a public safety drone team. Since 2002, I've been flying radio-controlled airplanes and drones as a hobby. In 2017, I helped my agency enact its first public safety drone program. Not many police agencies across the country were operating drones for public safety use in 2017. As such, the success of our program depended on research, trial, and error. Fast forward several years later, our program has record hundreds of deployments and dozens of successful finds and apprehensions.

Altitude Hobbies has helped many public safety agencies here in Colorado and across the U.S. setup drone programs for their departments. In addition to local public safety departments, some of our enterprise customers have also included NASA, the Canadian Department of Defense, the National Nuclear Security Administration, Disney, Boeing, Airbus, and more.

Unlike other drone retailers, we have actual real-world experience and knowledge gained through hands-on use of the drones we sell. We've seen what works and what doesn't work during stressful, dynamic, and demanding situations. We trust the drones we sell because we've seen their successes on SWAT barricades, fugitive tracks, missing person searches, and more. We carry top brands on the market featuring the latest technology in thermal imaging, high zoom capability, range finding, smart target tracking, long flight time, obstacle avoidance, and more.

We offer a variety of platforms from top brands DJI, Autel, Teledyne FLIR. Have you ever considered the tactical advantage a miniature drone can provide your SWAT team on a barricade operation? The drone can be used to not only locate the party but help you map a floorplan or as a noise distraction device during entry. The right drone can also help you perform pre-raid scouting from far enough away that your target has no idea you are there. Identify cameras, hazards, utilities shut-offs, read license plates, etc. without every having to drive by the address. How about having a drone in the air above a K9 track for a fugitive to enhance operational effectiveness and officer safety? The right drone equipped with a thermal camera can help you locate that person prior to the K9 reaching them and can be checking around blind corners the K9 team is approaching in order to help eliminate potential ambush situations. Fire departments can benefit from thermal drones on structure fires by being able to see hot spots not visible from the ground. Has your narcotics unit considered having a drone up for surveillance and evidence recording on buy-walk operations? Prosecutors see the value of showing high-resolution photos and videos of crime scenes to a jury in court. Traffic crash scenes can be mapped with a drone so that roadway can be re-opened in minutes, not hours. Did you know a thermal drone can even be used for article searches in certain situations? These are just some of the uses we've found for drones and the list continues to grow.

Call or email us today to discuss all the ways drones could be beneficial to your agency. We will help you select the right drone(s) to fit your needs and budget.