LSO using drone technology in task force settings

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Local law enforcement is crediting advanced technology in a recent arrest.

A warrant investigation Wednesday in Lincoln ended with a Sheriff’s Office drone finding the suspect hiding in an attic.

Deputies were able to take him into custody without incident, but a drone is a tool meant to lessen the danger officers face in these types of situations.

Drone technology has been used by LSO since back in 2018, but it’s grown significantly since then.

“We used to go into tactical and use mirrors and things like that to try to go around corners and look,” said Ben Houchin the deputy sheriff with LSO. “But you had to have someone pretty close to those areas to do that. With this everybody’s back away and has great cover and concealment.”

Cameron Stroeh is the deputy behind the drone who assisted in finding the wanted man who was arrested Wednesday.

He came into the job with experience with military drones, a tool he worked with during his time in the Army, so the assignment is a natural fit.

“They have 20-megapixel cameras, they even have 50-megapixel cameras,” Stroeh said. “They have zoom functions, they have thermal capabilities that allow us to see into areas that we can’t see, dark areas.”

Stroeh and the drone’s role within task forces is to assess the unknowns. It can quite literally be the eyes on the inside of dangerous situations.

“We’re seeing what’s going on,” Houchin said. “We’re not walking into a trap.”

LSO said technology and law enforcement is a story that’s being written in real-time as more and more departments are turning to it as a new tool in their belt.

“It’s something that’s getting into all these agencies, even smaller agencies,” Stroeh said. “What it does is cut down the time, the man-hours, and the amount of people that you need to complete a task.”

LSO also uses its drones for outside operations, like search and rescue to survey large areas like farmland, or to cover terrain that might be difficult for deputies to navigate.

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