The police department for the city of Maricopa is investing in a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to use in certain police situations. The drone will be ready in about two weeks.
Ricardo Alvarado manages the department’s program. Currently, there is one cheif pilot and seven pilots are undergoing training.
Alvarado said the agency went for the small commercial model because "there’s sometimes a need for a large search if somebody were to go missing or if we had somebody who ran from a vehicle that we’re not able to properly search or effectively search in a timely manner."
Alvarado said the custom craft cost more than $21,000 and was paid for using mostly funds from organized crime investigations.
