Gaston County Police Getting High Tech Birdseye View To Help Protect Community

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — It’s a high tech police operation unlike anything you’ve ever seen before on the streets or in the air in Gaston County.

The Gaston County Police Department’s Drone Team is going to great heights to keep people safe.  There are 11 members – all FAA Certified Drone Pilots, the team has conducted 55 missions since the unit started back in April of 2022.  And, they use four drones in their operation – 3 designed for outdoor use, one for indoors.

Two weeks ago, the drone team was called out to help search for a missing boy who ran away into a wooded area along Fairview Drive.

“This drone has thermal technology and we were able to use the thermal technology to determine where the heat signature of the missing juvenile was, and that’s how we were able to identify him,” says Scott Lambert, team leader.

“We can typically fly up to 400 feet unless we’re within a certain distance of the Charlotte Airport,” says Lambert.

The drones allow officers a Birdseye view of something they can’t see from the ground.  Lambert believes more police departments across the country will begin using them in the near future.