(La Porte, IN) - The La Porte Police Department is purchasing more drones three years after its initial acquisition of one of the devices.

 

Police Chief Paul Brettin said he wants a drone on each shift to eliminate the need to call Officer Dalton Pflughaupt, who runs the department's drone program and was hired last year, to operate their sole drone to help in locating individuals whenever he’s off-duty. 

 

He told the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety this week the drones being obtained have more capabilities when it comes to locating people. The new devices will be more user-friendly and have features like heat-sensing devices that can detect an individual's body temperature.

 

“Their thermal capabilities and ability to change their image qualities to better enhance our ability to find whether it’s a subject in the woods. Whether it’s somebody who committed a crime,” he said.

 

A much smaller drone able to be flown indoors was credited recently with locating a suspected drug dealer barricaded in the basement of a home on Lakeshore Drive.

 

Brettin said the cost of the two new drones is just over $15,000, noting that an additional officer has been trained to operate drones while several other officers are currently undergoing the same training.

 

He also illustrated how drones can locate people, ranging from criminals to Alzheimer’s disease patients who wandered off, much quicker than officers on foot.

 

“They’re used quite often. It used to take hours canvassing a neighborhood. Now it can be done in minutes,” he said.