DRONES

DRONES. According to a Wikipedia entry, drones in the sense of mechanical products are "an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an aircraft without a human aboard." Types of drones include: agricultural drones, delivery drones, micro air vehicle, miniature UAV, multirotor, passenger, quadcopter, or unmanned combat aerial vehicle--an armed UAV. (1)

From 2017 to 2019 the City of Dubuque expanded its use of drones from investigating an industrial fire, assessing hazardous materials, searching for fleeing subjects to photographing construction work. The latter use was actually the first use when the city's Cable TV Division used drones to apture aerial video and photos of city projects to be used in programming. In 2010, drones were used to paid police, firefighting, and engineers. (2)

In 2017 there were an estimated dozen city employees who were certified to fly city-owned drones. By 2019 this number had increased to at least twenty who completed ground school training to obtain a remote pilot certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The city spent an estimated $40,000 since 2015 purchasing and outfitting five drones. The city also paid $150 each for city employees to become FAA certified. FAA rules demanded that those who flew drones for commercial and government use to pass a certification test every two years. (3)

Department employees completed nearly 170 missions using a drone. Drones were used to provide 3-D modeling and mapping of buildings, intersections and terrain, and assessing the spread of a fuel leak into the South Fork of Catfish Creek. A drone was used to provide responders with the scene of an anhydrous ammonia spill along Olde Massey Road without the need to send someone with a hazmat suit into the area of hazardous gas. Drones were capable of recording and streaming live images using either a high-definition video camera or a heat signature camera. The latter type of camera proved useful in identifying hot spots and surveying the remains to help determine the origin of the fire. ()

Evidence gathered by a drone is barred in traffic enforcement and inadmissible in court unless authorized by a search warrant or obtained in "a manner that is consistent with state and federal laws."

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Source:

1. "Drone," Wikipedia, Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone

2. Barton, Thomas J. "City's Use of Drones Starting to Take Off," Telegraph Herald, October 11, 2019, p. 1A