PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission will be setting up a time when a company that produces drones for law enforcement agencies can come and do a demonstration for local officials.
Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard appeared before commissioners on Monday to discuss the possibilities drones could bring to local law enforcement as he has been in contact with the BRINC company who produces drones.
“Some of the stuff that we thought was science fiction is starting to come to life for us,” Woodyard said. “Some of the newer drone technologies over the last five years have really taken off.”
New models of drones have the ability to fly indoors and outdoors and be able to patch into a computer and officers, en route, can see what is happening at the scene before they arrive. They can be used during festivals and events to help observe what is going on “as a force multiplier,” Woodyard said.
Drones can also be used to map out the scenes of accidents and help in locating evidence and provide other information.
“It has cameras, but it has nothing that can see inside houses or some of the crazy things people think they can do,” Woodyard said. “You can’t see through a wall with it.”
Woodyard said the local SWAT team is being deployed on a more regular basis. They have mobile bot units that can be put in a house but those can run into obstacles that it might not be able to get around or over.
The drone has ways of getting in through a window and is able to fly around the house and is able to map the inside of the house as it is making its way through, recording where couches and other obstacles are before officers enter.
“It also has a two-way communication device so if you do find the suspect or the person who has barricaded themselves inside, you or the hostage negotiators can talk to them.”
Woodyard admitted the drone systems were not cheap and they did have purchasing plans.
Commissioner Jimmy Colombo asked how this footage would be presented in court. He asked about whether drones can focus in on areas around a crime scene as officials look for possible evidence to which he was told they could.
Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure said the operator would have to testify on what the drone can do and its capabilities. He believed the operator would have to be licensed or certified in the operation and be able to discuss its recording and mapping abilities.
Some of the technology is now being used by realty companies to map out houses to show prospective customers, Lefebure said.
“It would not be difficult to present in our courts,” he said. “This could benefit the CRASH team and having that aerial view and being able to look down on a crash scene can be really helpful.”
They have already utilized drones to show distances suspects have traveled and more.
“It would probably help a juror be more understanding of a situation,” Colombo said.
Woodyard pointed out that the Federal Aviation Administration does not allow some drones to be flown over crowds. Newer models coming out have been equipped with parachutes that if they lose power the parachutes activate and the drone floats to the ground, allowing them to be used in crowded areas.
He showed officials a couple of videos to show what the drones were capable of. One showed a dramatized scene of a drone approaching suspects in a building and one of the suspects knocking the drone down and it was able to right itself and continue communicating as well as taking off again.
Woodyard said these devices could be used to lower the risks to officers’ lives. Officers would have a good idea of what they would be facing before they entered a potentially dangerous location.
Officials also stated such a system could be utilized in times of natural disasters and fire emergencies. Woodyard said the feed could also be relayed back to the 911 center where dispatchers and others could observe the situation.
Commission President Blair Couch said he wants to do a demonstration for them, the sheriff and other representatives of local law enforcement who might be able to make use of the system and who could help pay for a system.
“If someone would need it, we would take it to them,” Woodyard said.
Colombo wondered if they should invite any of the Circuit Court judges to observe the demonstration. Lefebure said they might be able to observe, but could not give an opinion of anything from a legal perspective. It could provide a basis of knowledge, he added.
“If we have to present this in court, I want to show them we have done the background work,” Colombo said.
Woodyard said there are time limits with how long a drone can be deployed before its battery charge is exhausted and they can have wind and weather limitations. He did not discuss the exact cost of the system, but said the company has payment plans in place. If the drone is damaged in the line of duty, there are options to have it replaced without additional costs.
“This is the future,” Woodyard said.
Officials are seeing when they might be able to set a date to set up a demonstration.
In other business:
* The Shaver Judicial Annex, which houses the Wood County Circuit Courts and the Circuit Clerk’s office was closed Monday and will be closed today due to an air conditioning issue that needs to be fixed. Officials said people are being contacted to have hearings and other court action rescheduled.
* Wood County Grant Coordinator Toni Tiano appeared before the commission to get approval to apply for $73,436 from a federal VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) Grant for the Victim Advocate positions in the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This is the 28th year we have applied for this grant,” Tiano said. “The Victims Advocates serve around 5,500 victims per year.”
Victims Advocate Jez Williams talked about reaching out to victims and helping them navigate the court system. She said domestic violence cases keep her the busiest if they are ongoing with possible incidents of stalking as well as follow-up services, making sure people get to scheduled court hearings, alerting them to changes in hearing times and more.
The commission unanimously approved the application for the grant.