Drone Will Be Shared

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department will ask the Fond du Lac Police Department for assistance with its new drone when the occasion calls for it. The Police Department is currently completing licensing for operators of the drone. Sheriff’s Captain Ryan Waldschmidt says they have called on other departments for assistance with drones from time-to-time. He says, “We know they have a drone, Ripon has a drone and we have actually used-Dodge County Sheriff’s Office bought a drone a year or two ago- and we used it on search up here in Fond du Lac County.” The Fond du Lac Police Department drone will be equipped with a FLIR camera which has thermal imaging capabilities. Waldschmidt says the Sheriff’s Department actually has a couple of handheld FLIR cameras they’ve used in searches. He says, “We use it for anything from searches through fields you know out in the County or out on water, water rescue type scenarios. So we’ve had a FLIR for years and the City has called us for our FLIR many times over the years and now they will be able to launch a FLIR into the air with the use of this drone and reciprocate or return this favor.” He says drones are an asset and they are becoming more prevalent each year in law enforcement and there certainly is a good use for them.