Dodge County Sheriff's Office expands use of drones

The most recent development is the addition of five new drones to the county sheriff's current drone fleet, doubling the number of drones to 10, Dodge County Sheriff Dustin Weitzel said.

In May, the Dodge and Saunders County Sheriff's Offices assisted the Fremont Police Department following a late-night high-speed chase, with the Saunders County Sheriff's drone team helping to located several suspects hiding in a wooded area just across the southern county line. of Frémont.

The Dodge County Sheriff's Drone Team is conducting more training exercises, including with the Nebraska State Patrol, as the team's three current members prepare to use the new technology in the field for mapping motor vehicle accidents as well as searching for suspects equipped with a thermal camera. drones.

“We've just implemented our (drone team), they've gone through all the training and we just need to get them to do a few more trials and a little more training flight time and then our team will be ready as well go,” Weitzel said in a recent interview with the Tribune. “We just need to do a few more things in terms of training.”

Weitzel said former Deputy Chief Robert “Bob” Reynolds, now retired, was instrumental in the sheriff's office developing a drone team.

“(Reynolds) was critical, and he implemented and launched the program. He loved drones. I think he (originally) wanted to be a pilot, so he was very involved in the drone program. We had a drone a while ago, and it was our first drone,” Weitzel said. “Deputy Chief Reynolds took it upon himself and he got his (drone) license to fly this drone. And then, with the implementation of these new drones, he was sort of the supervisor at the start. Then we got everything up and running.

Drones – aerial and terrestrial – are now used in a variety of ways by law enforcement, including for detonating and handling explosives, mapping accident and crime scenes, searching for missing persons or criminal suspects and also surveillance in various areas. situations.

“We have five drones ourselves now and five new ones and that's going to help us with mapping and everything related to these accidents on the highway,” he said. “(Drones) have kind of cut those times in half to reopen those roads and, you know, (they can be used for) search and rescue. We have a new one with a thermal camera that may be a little better than the other four. So we can see (the buildings), we can go look for people, you know, in a wooded area if we just say we're missing someone.

Weitzel said having 10 drones locally as well as officers trained in their use saves time because in the past the sheriff's office often had to request a drone from another enforcement agency laws, like the Omaha Police Department.

Drones are useful in situations such as searching for high-speed chase suspects in early May, but also in standoff-type incidents such as what happened on April 8, 2023 at a house at the intersection of streets Fifth and Bell.

“If we're going after somebody like they did that night (early May), you know, those drones should be with most of our guys, who are obviously the drivers that are going to be in their cars,” said Weitzel. “So if we have them in service, they will be there, set up the drone and see what we can do with it.

In total, three Dodge deputies are considered capable drone pilots.

“I have a few others that are interested now that we, you know, we're kind of seeing what the process is and what's going on. So we’ll see where it goes,” he said.

Weitzel has been a certified law enforcement officer for more than 20 years, and he says in that time the use of new technology in investigations and law enforcement tasks has only increased. 'increase. He said he is excited to bring this level of future to Dodge County.

“I feel like drones are going to take over a lot of things, you know. First of all, you know, search and rescue operations will be much faster in the hope of finding someone or if you're trying to clean up an accident scene on the highway, our main goal is to keep the road opened. he said.

“Once we have U.S. Highway 30 fully opened, hopefully this summer, and we have the Southeast Beltway, and we have contracted construction to Scribner. There will be four lanes all around. If we have such accidents, we must eliminate them quickly.

“Obviously, we are still investigating as usual and taking our time to investigate these matters, but we do not need to wait for these rebuilders like we did before. We can launch the drones and start mapping this scene,” he said.

Weitzel said the April 2023 standoff is a great example of how a ground-based drone, which the office does not yet own, could be used. During this incident, the suspect – who is currently serving a three-year prison sentence – was hiding in a house with his children.

The Dodge-Fremont Joint Emergency Response Team was on scene less than an hour after the incident began, but officers did not know exactly what was happening inside the home or if the suspect was armed. Weitzel said a drone on the ground could have helped in this incident.

“I haven't bought them yet, but now they have a little drone that we can use to set up in a house. Let’s say we either have a suicide or the kind of incident we had on Bell Street (in 2023) and we don’t want to get too close to that,” he said. “But let’s say there is a fairly small drone. If we can get it inside a residence, we can fly a drone there first and see what's going on inside before anyone enters a residence, just to be safe .

Weitzel said all law enforcement must adapt and embrace new technology, and as sheriff he works hard to find ways to do that, both in training and funding for new technology .

“It’s the new thing. (Drones) have obviously been around for a long time, but in terms of using them for law enforcement, it's going to be a lot better than obviously going back to the way things were done in the past,” he said. declared.