Drones

The Baltimore Police Department is asking residents for input on a plan to use drones during crime scene management and tactical situations, outlining the specific circumstances where the technology could be used.

The California county will have drones in the sky looking for illegal fireworks this July Fourth. Last year, the technology helped the fire department initiate more than 100 administrative actions against suspected lawbreakers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is increasingly using drones to get real-time data from the heart of hurricanes. The technology allows greater access to the dangerous and destructive weather events.

A project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has developed a drone equipped with GPS, an infrared camera and 400 tiny “fireballs” that can be used to ignite prescribed burns from a safe distance.

A rogue drone caused a roughly 30 minute ground stoppage at Pittsburgh International Airport earlier this week. Law enforcement is investigating the incident.

Illinois legislators passed a bill recently that would expand police officers' ability to use surveillance drones for security purposes during special events like parades, festivals, concerts and races.

The Walpole Police Department is finalizing its policy for the drone it bought last year. The department has been using it off and on since last summer, and some have voiced privacy concerns about the technology.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is testing how well unmanned aerial systems – commonly called drones – can help to move traffic around wrecks, temporary road closures and construction zones.

The Los Angeles City Council has decided – in an 8-4 vote – to accept the donation of a nearly $280,000 dog-like robot for the police department's use. The technology has been a point of contentious public debate.

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill this week stiffening penalties for drone operators that interfere with aerial wildfire suppression efforts. Violators could face a criminal misdemeanor, up to 6 months in jail and hefty civil fines.

Alaska's cutting-edge drone program will empower emergency responders to reach remote terrain, saving lives through the integration of aerial and geographic information systems.

The city implemented a system to identity and detect drone activity in restricted airspace or near critical infrastructure. The deployment comes well ahead of the FAA mandate that requires drones be equipped with remote identification capability.

The unmanned aircraft system will be used by the Allen County Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The drone will be equipped with thermal technology to assist in search-and-rescue operations as well as inspections.

Drones will be used to inspect the city’s power infrastructure, officials reported this week. The devices offer a faster, safer way to inspect transmission lines compared to in-person visual inspections.

Some City Council members say they’d like to see more community input before police finalize their policy on using drones, after two meetings were held and 10 people attended one while none went to the other.

Santa Clara County, Calif., is turning to drones to spray larvicide in non-residential areas. Recent wet weather has created the ideal conditions for a booming year for mosquitos and vector-borne diseases.

State lawmakers are assigning $25 million to help police departments replace their drone fleets after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration forced local governments to stop using drone technology made in China.

In what sounds like the start of a bad sci-fi movie, one company has added new processing capabilities to Spot that will make the robot dog easier to manage with a natural voice interface.