BILLINGS - During the course of a pursuit on Tuesday, Billings police used a drone to assist in tracking the suspect.
Police drone pilots explained how the department has been using the drones for 3-1/2 years at a Citizen Policy Academy session on Wednesday.
Watch police drone story here:
Detective Eric Laase showed a video of what a SWAT commander would see on their phones or iPads.
“Situational dependent, you know what type of exigencies there are, what the risk is to the public as well, and to the officers,” said Billings police Sgt. Jeff Stovall. “So it's all kind of a case-by-case basis, but there's a lot of responsibility on the drone pilots themselves to understand and make that decision.”
Stovall is part of the department's drone team, which used drones on 121 missions in 2024.
“We're able to direct officers into the grain silos,” Laase said. ”They take one of the guys in custody pretty much right away.”
“Some of the grain bins over off First Avenue South were continually being burglarized,” Stovall said. “So we're able to utilize them in a nighttime capacity.”
Police officers can use the drones in several areas, including surveillance, apprehending suspects, and search and rescue.
And there's an indoor drone that allows them to search a building before sending in officers.
Laase demonstrated the indoor drone, showing how he might use it to determine if the room is safe.
“Kind of gives us a little bit more peace of mind,” Stovall said. “We're still going to operate, understanding that until we go in and physically clear ourselves, nothing, no scene is ever safe.”
Some of the citizens had a chance to wear the goggles for a drone pilot's point of view.
“I love it,” said Mark Cichosz, a Citizen Police Academy student. “I think it's a good thing to have.”
Citizens appreciate the drones, and their 4th Amendment rights are protected as police need a warrant to use the drone for a search.
“And we can't use drone footage to obtain a search warrant,” said Laase. “So you’ve got to have your reasonable suspicion or probable cause of your warrant prior to us coming out.”
“Just utilizing the tools and the technology that we have in law enforcement now, to try and have a safe outcome,” Stovall said.
