Inside the Campbell County Police Department Drone Program: Episode 3 of Campbell County Works

Episode 3 of Campbell County Works takes viewers inside the Campbell County Police Department drone program. The episode features Officer Nick Kendall and Sergeant Michael Curtis. Both officers help lead the program.

Officer Nick Kendall says he did not get into this line of work because someone told him to.

"As a younger officer, I wanted to become more involved in my department and my community," he says. "This program allows me to do both."

Officer Kendall is one of nine officers in the department who are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones. The Federal Aviation Administration is the U.S. agency that sets the rules for flying aircraft, including drones. Every officer in the program chose to earn this certification on their own. They believed in what the technology could do for the people they serve.

How the Program Works

The Campbell County Police Department drone program uses three drones. The team flies them on many kinds of public safety calls. Those calls include searching for missing people, tracking suspects who try to flee a scene, photographing crime scenes, assisting at serious traffic crashes, and working with the fire department during major emergencies.

Every flight is led by a certified pilot. Every flight follows federal rules, state law, and county policy. The program was not built because no one forced the department to do it. It was built because the officers running it saw a better way to do the job.

Sergeant Michael Curtis puts it plainly.

"It changes what's possible," Curtis says. "Missing person in a field at night, we used to put officers in that field searching blind for hours. Now we put up a drone with thermal, and we'll find them in minutes."

A thermal camera picks up body heat. That heat shows up clearly, even in the dark or in heavy brush. With that tool, officers can find a missing person much faster than they could before.

Drones also help when a suspect tries to run away on foot. Officers on the ground can usually only see what is right in front of them. A drone in the sky changes that.

"The suspect running from a scene, we track from above, and our guys on the ground know exactly where to go," Curtis explains. "It keeps officers safer. It keeps the people we're looking for safer. And it just makes everything better."

What comes through in conversations with Officer Kendall and Sergeant Curtis is that this drone program is part of something bigger. They want to do their work as well as possible.

"Protecting people is what I do," Kendall says. "And if there's a better tool that helps me do that safer and smarter, I'm going to learn it. I'm going to use it every time."

The certification these officers earned is not easy to get. It is called Part 107 certification. To pass, an officer must take a long test from the Federal Aviation Administration. The test covers rules for the sky, weather, emergency procedures, and drone laws. Every drone pilot in the Campbell County Police Department passed that test. That kind of commitment shows who these officers are.

Episode 3 of Campbell County Works is available now on the Campbell County Fiscal Court Facebook page. The series spotlights the employees and ideas shaping how Campbell County serves its community.

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