LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville is investing $100,000 in a new pilot program that dedicating drones to every police division.
Mayor Craig Greenberg, Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel and other city officials made the announcement on Thursday.
The program will provide a long-range drone for every LMPD division office, training and technology services to be used in street racing violations, missing persons cases, traffic collisions, SWAT situations, water rescues and more.
Division three Maj. Donald Boeckman is one of eight division leaders getting new drones.
"It's not a surveillance type thing," he said, "It's more of an intelligence gathering thing from our side. It gives us the tools to be able to identify what's going on."
“In order to move Louisville in a new direction, toward a safer, stronger and healthier future, we must take a multi-layered approach to tackling crime and making our community safer,” Greenberg said. “From the Chief and I to leaders at Metro Council, community members and more, this is yet another example of how we are all committed to working together to find real solutions that will deliver results.”
The drones will help LMPD identify where off-road vehicles committing the crimes are being parked so they can confiscate the vehicle or issue a violation.
“LMPD’s top priorities are public safety and protecting our community. To effectuate our goals, we consistently seek innovative tools to incorporate into our crime mitigation strategies. We also evaluate best practices in the field of law enforcement and invest in equipment and training that we believe will benefit residents and visitors of our great city,” Gwinn-Villaroel said. “LMPD is grateful for the support of Mayor Greenberg and members of Metro Council who recognize the value of implementing crime-fighting technology to keep Louisville a safer place to live, work, and visit.”
The department promised to make some of their flight data public in the future.
"Because when we're deploying a drone, guess what? It's gonna be automatically attached to a case number as to why we're utilizing and deploying it. So again, you will have that data," the chief said.
According to LMPD's operating procedures, drones may not be used for investigative surveillance. Recordings may be obtained through open records requests.
Pilots with the department follow rules similar to commercial drone licensing, known as Part 107, meaning they cannot pilot drones from a moving vehicle and may not fly them further than the pilot can see.
The pilot program is a collaboration between Louisville Metro Council and the Greenberg Administration. Metro Council provided $48,000 through an ordinance appropriation, sponsored by Councilman Rick Blackwell and Councilwoman Cindi Fowler.
“Currently, LMPD lacks the necessary equipment to monitor this illegal activity, but we’re hoping to change that by providing them with advanced tools for more effective law enforcement. This aerial surveillance technology is cutting edge and will greatly assist LMPD in apprehending and citing these repeat offenders,” Blackwell said.
This is the latest in a series of investments for public safety.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.