Highland County Special Deputy Doug Daniels was recently selected to speak at the National Sheriffs’ Association Winter Conference in Washington, D.C., according to a news release from Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera.
Daniels submitted a presentation on K9s and sUAS/Drone Integration in November for consideration by the National Sheriffs’ Association. He later received notification that out of 140 submissions to present, he was one of 24 submissions selected to present at the winter conference Feb. 5-8.
Daniels is one of two FFA Part 107 remote pilots for the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. He has been doing research on sUAS/Drones since 2015 and is a course instructor for public safety agencies who are using sUAS/Drones, Barrera said.
In addition, Daniels is the midwest region deputy director for the Airborne Public Safety Association and is a FAASTeam (FAA Safety Team) lead representative, DronePro for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Columbus Field Standard District Office.
“Integrating K9s and sUASDrones is a new concept,” the sheriff said in the news release. “sUAS/Drones are fast evolving, emerging technology that is new to public safety. Deputy Daniels’ presentation showed the teamwork used between K9s and sUAS/Drones.”
Daniels presentation explained how drones can check behind and on top of buildings, as well as the beds of trucks, Barrera said.
“The presentation also described how the sUAS/Drone, if it has a spotlight attached, can light the way out of a wooded area so a K9 unit can bring a suspect/fugitive or missing/lost person out,” Barrera said. “The sUAS/Drone is also there to keep the K9 unit from being ambushed or moving into an unsafe environment or area. If the K9 comes to the end of a scent or track and it has disappeared, the sUAS/Drone can search the area beyond where the scent or track has stopped, as described in the presentation by deputy Daniels.”
