FULTON, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — There’s been a lot of buzz in the Fulton Police and Fire Departments as they are using their new drone to assist in calls. And with five trained drone officers, ideas for its use have quickly taken off.
Fulton Police Department Chief Michael Curtis said the drone program is just getting started and will help the entire county.
“We’re really just at the tip of the iceberg for drones and the drone programs. It’s expanding for our department and for the county itself, and we can have all these cooperative efforts throughout the entire county. Even regionally, if we needed to send somebody to assist in Onondaga County or another adjacent county, we’d be willing to do that,” said Curtis.
The technology is also giving the fire department another eye and angle.
“The drone has thermal imaging where you can see the heat sources. You can see where the fire is going. You can see where it needs to be extinguished,” said Fulton Fire Department Chief Adam Howard.
Not only is this technology a great resource for police and fire departments, it’s great for overall public safety. It can go up to 400 feet in the air and can zoom in up to 200 times its original image.
“Someone’s fleeing the area, or if its a fire, this is what’s happening on scene with the fire. If it’s some incident at a school, or at a commercial facility, this is what’s going on before you pull up to it,” Curtis said.
The drone is a powerful tool to be used with purpose.
“There are restrictions related to how we fly it, when we fly it, where we fly it, the training that’s involved,” Curtis said. “So obviously privacy is important to us, and we understand we don’t want to make our community uncomfortable. We just want to make them safe.”
The drone is now taking safety to new heights in Fulton.
