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Carlsbad Police describe drone program, uses and privacy safeguards
Summary
Lieutenant Sean Lawton outlined the police department's drone program, describing equipment, recent deployments, examples of successful uses for searches and events, FAA authorizations and privacy mitigations.
Lieutenant Sean Lawton, who oversees the Carlsbad Police Department's drone program, briefed the Public Safety Commission on the department's unmanned aerial systems, training and recent uses.
Lawton said Carlsbad's drone program began after a 2017 SWAT incident and has grown from tactical support for specialized teams into an operational asset used by patrol and rangers. The department uses multiple platforms (examples cited: DJI Mavic models and smaller indoor drones such as the Avata 2) and a streaming integration with Axon so live video can be shared with dispatch, patrol and incident commanders.
Lawton described training and regulatory requirements: pilots complete FAA Part 107 certification and the…
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