Event Showcases Vital Role Drones Play In Public Safety

(By Sheri Trusty, Public Relations/Community Engagement Coordinator)

Members of Seneca County’s Countywide Drone Team participated in Drone Safety Day at Tiffin University’s Heminger Center on April 26 to showcase the vital role drones play in public safety. The Drone Team, which includes three deputies from the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office, three officers from the Tiffin Police Department, and two from Fostoria Police Department, utilizes drones to protect and rescue residents and provide an extra layer of safety for law enforcement.

“We’re talking to people about what we do and opening their eyes to the importance of having drones,” said Seneca County Sheriff’s Deputy Lane Sauber. “Our main goal is to bring your loved ones home.”

Drones are used by the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office for Project Lifesaver, a search and rescue program designed to protect individuals at risk of wandering from home, such as people with dementia or autism. An adult or child registered with Project Lifesaver wears a transmitter on their wrist or ankle, and if they wander from home, law enforcement can quickly track the individual through radio frequencies.

Drones help speed the rescue by being an eye in the sky. As law enforcement are tracking an individual through transmitter signals, the drone can pinpoint exactly where they are.

“I carry my drone with me all the time, when I’m on duty and off duty, in case there’s a call. Every minute is important,” Deputy Sauber said. “If I had a family member on Project Lifesaver and knew they had a drone, I’d be grateful.”

Drones are also used to locate suspects who have fled a scene.

“Our drone has a range of one to two miles,” said Tiffin PD Patrol Officer Andrew Stevens. “People bail out of cars and run into the woods, and we can find them with drones.”

Whether they are looking for a lost child with autism or a fleeing suspect, drones help law enforcement officers find people fast.

“It utilizes thermal imaging,” Deputy Sauber said. “It can sense heat signals as they move through the woods or if they are resting against a tree.”

Drones are a vital tool for officer safety. When deputies approach a home with a search warrant, a drone can be an extra set of eyes around the home, and it can be sent into the house to identify points of danger before the officers enter.

“In a hostage situation, we can use drones so officers don’t have to expose themselves to danger,” Officer Stevens said.

The Drone Team works in conjunction with Tiffin University’s Drone Academy, which is headed by Drone Academy Director, Owen Fritz. The collaboration has helped the Sheriff’s Office advance their drone skills.

“Tiffin University helped us get our license, and they provide training,” Deputy Sauber said. “Owen Fritz has been a big help.”

Fritz said Tiffin University has about ten drones that are available for the Drone Team to use, including a hazmat gas sniffer.

“It checks for the ten most common hazmat chemicals and gives a real-time readout,” Fritz said.

Tiffin University is happy to support local law enforcement efforts.

“It’s about lifesaving measures,” Fritz said. “It about finding missing kids and officer safety.”