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Gaston County, N.C., Police Department Purchases an Aerial Surveillance Vehicle

The ability to give real-time information and provide real-time video and patrol coverage over a wider area could provide more protection

The Gaston County Police Department purchased a CyberBug, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), from Cyber Defense Systems, Inc.

The CyberBug will augment the response and rescue efforts of the Gaston County Police department. The ability to give real-time information and provide real-time video and patrol coverage over a wider area could provide more protection to both the citizens and law enforcement in Gaston County.

The Gaston County Police Department said will begin training its first operator next week. Assistant Chief Jeff Isenhour said, "The applications we have in mind for the CyberBug include a long list of missions, just to name a few, we would use the CyberBug for routine surveillance, lost persons, tactical operations, open area drug eradication, and overhead crime scene photography."

Data according to Cyber Defense Systems:

The Cyber Defense UAV's intended applications were to provide military ground forces with immediate and efficient surveillance from the sky. Ongoing testing and real-time demonstrations are creating new possible uses for the CyberBug. Search and rescue, traffic control and expanded investigations are a few of the uses for the CyberBug. The CyberBug can serve as a means of identifying and tracking possible threats to the environment such as forest fires or as security measures to deter crop tampering. The previous methods of tracking and surveying these areas are accomplished primarily with multiple patrol cars, planes or helicopters, both of which come with high maintenance and much greater expense. Less than the cost of a patrol car or the expense to deploy one helicopter, several CyberBugs can be used in its place, offering faster surveillance over a wide area of terrain. This enables forestry experts to identify possible environmental threats immediately, gaining accurate topographic information and limiting potential threats to the area.