SENECA COUNTY, Ohio — Three Seneca County law enforcement agencies are collaborating with a northwest Ohio university to get a new view on policing.
The Tiffin and Fostoria police departments and the Seneca County Sheriff's Office are now working together to use drones as part of their day-to-day operations.
The three departments, along with Tiffin University, are sharing resources to make sure they can have a bird's eye view of scenes if needed.
"The purpose of drone technology for policing is for citizens' protection," Tiffin Police Chief David Pauley said. "We want this up in the air to give us eyes that we haven't seen. To have situational awareness for a big operation that we might have."
The drone was donated to the Seneca County Sheriff's Office as part of a national program called Project Lifesaver.
"The program itself is set up for assisting law enforcement agencies in finding individuals that are missing and usually because they have Alzheimer's or dementia, or it's an autistic child," Seneca County Sheriff Fredrick Stevens said.
But Stevens says they needed more people to help operate it.
"The couple (drone) instances that we had, our two drone operators that we did have were on vacation at the same time," Stevens said. "So that gave me the idea to reach out in a collaborative effort to the Fostoria Police Department and the Tiffin Police Department."
Then it expanded to more than just finding missing people.
"The shooting that we had, that (drone) gave us eyes in order to (help) once they extracted the two deputies that were being shot at," Tiffin Police Officer Drew Westenbarger said. "That gave a larger perspective."
Drone operators have to get their drone pilot's license through the Federal Aviation Administration. Operators are being trained through Tiffin University, which has also opened up a drone program to students.
"We started with just one course. We're now doing a minor and we're expanding leaps and bounds," assistant director of the drone program at Tiffin University, Bruce Chambers, said.
In the future, drones could be the first to show up for a call.
"The drone is going to be first responder on the call out," Chambers said. "The 911 call will come in, the drone will go out and then the live video coming back will determine whether we have to put a live officer out there or not."
For now, the drone has become a staple in operations.
"Not having it would be a hinder to us now," Sheriff Stevens said.
The drone used by the Tiffin police department is the DJI M30T. It includes a thermal camera, a range finder and wide and zoom cameras. It can be deployed within a minute and elevated to 400 ft. above the ground.
Westenbarger also wanted to reassure people that drones won't be used to spy on anyone and will only be used for police work.