11/15/17 – 5:30 A.M.

The Findlay Police Department has new equipment in its arsenal. The Courier reports the department recently bought two drones and a mobile surveillance trailer. The department tells the newspaper officers can use the equipment for things like surveillance, crowd control and preventing thefts.

The department put the trailer into service following severe weather earlier this month. Lt. Ryan Doe says officers used it to help evacuate the Highland Estates mobile home park. It provided officers with lights and surveillance of the area.

In the meantime, five officers are working on getting FAA certification to use the drones. Doe says the drones can help officers look at crime scenes and crashes as well as track suspects through wooded areas and cornfields using infrared camera technology. The water department will use the equipment to inspect the city’s reservoirs.

The equipment cost around $80,000. The police and water departments are splitting the cost. Doe says the department will follow all FAA regulations when flying the drones. He added the police department is setting its own policy on drones to avoid infringing on civil liberties.

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