LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
In a couple of months, fleeing criminals and citizens in distress are likely to meet two new agents of the law, but they’ll have to look up.
As a result of donations from community members and local fundraising efforts, the Paris Police Department and the Edgar County Sheriff’s Office will be purchasing two state-of-the-art search and rescue drones for both departments to use in the field.
“I’ve been here 20 years, and I can’t tell you how much it would have helped to have something like this (during that time),” Paris Police Chief Terry Rogers said, adding, “This is a great tool for us and we’re excited to get it going.”
Edgar County Sheriff Jeff Wood reciprocated Rogers’ excitement.
“Our budgets, ours or the city’s, they’ve never allowed us to purchase something (like) this… with private donations and the community coming together and doing functions for us, we’re able to do this, and it’s something for the community,” he said.
The model of drone both departments plan to purchase, the DJI M30T, will cost just under $20,000 per unit. For that price, each drone will come equipped with a camera capable of 8K photos, 4K video at 30 frames per second, up to 16x optical zoom, thermal and infrared capabilities, a spotlight, a passthrough speaker to relay audio messages from the pilot to subjects on the ground and a LiveTech case complete with an LED monitor that will function as a command center and alternate live feed for the drone’s camera.
“(It’s) pretty top-of-line stuff that we’re getting here,” Jake Robinson, deputy investigator for the Edgar County Sheriff’s Department, explained.
The M30T is also weather-rated for rain and snow and is capable of 48 minutes of consecutive flight hundreds of feet in the air.
For law enforcement, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) like the M30T provides plenty of utility across a variety of scenarios and situations. As a search and rescue tool, the M30T’s ability to cover wide swathes of ground quickly and locate missing persons with its thermal camera, even in heavily wooded areas, promises to make it an invaluable asset for local officers and deputies.
“We’re already really short-staffed,” said Robinson. “You can cover a couple of acres in a couple of minutes with a drone.”
“Short of having a nose like a dog, a drone has pretty well taken over having a canine (unit),” he concluded.
For Paris Police Sergeant Chris Ray, the drone’s value for tracking and finding missing persons cannot be understated. Ray recalled a search and rescue mission where multiple agencies were dispatched to locate an elderly man with dementia. The man wandered from his home into a pitch-black, bitterly cold night.
When authorities located the man, hypothermia had already set in.
“That (search) was one that I was personally at, and I know we would have found him. If we’d had access to tools like this, we would have saved his life,” Ray said.
In addition to spotting lost or missing individuals, the M30T drone, in the hands of a certified operator, can be equally effective for tracking criminals and fugitives. Not only is it an effective measure against criminals, it protects police.
“(If) we have a situation where we’re going to have to send officers in to make contact with individuals that are… thought to be armed… We can take a drone into that area and find out what we’re dealing with before we have to make contact with them,” said Ray, who cited a previous incident where two individuals, one with warrants for violent crimes, fled into the woods and posed a danger to responding officers.
Other potential uses for the M30T drones include assisting in recreating auto accidents during an investigation, assessing and recording storm damage to secure relief funding, monitoring large crowds and conducting educational demonstrations for students.
“The use is endless with them, you just need to get creative,” Robinson explained.
Having two drones available in the area will allow Edgar County’s law enforcement agencies to gather information quickly during a crisis without relying on neighboring departments, agencies or private drone pilots. Partnering with the latter can prove problematic in certain situations.
“That brings a lot of gray area… depending on what the case may be, if it’s a crime in progress or something, then we’re… maybe putting that individual in danger. It’s (also) a gray area with testimony in court,” Robinson explained.
Ray, who already carries a smaller camera drone in his squad car for indoor use and is an FAA-certified (Part 107 licensed) remote pilot, started to ponder the benefits of unmanned tech for local emergency responders in late 2023. After bringing his idea to Rogers, Ray started assembling a formal proposal to the Paris City Council asking for funds, but later pivoted to fundraising and community backing to cover the cost of the department’s future drone.
After a discussion with Granville Colvin of the Friends of Edgar County Law Enforcement (FECLE), a 501c3 run through the Edgar County Community Foundation’s SPARC account, Ray’s vision started to take shape.
“Granville was one of the first people that I reached out to to see if we could collaborate on another side-by-side ride (fundraiser)… Honestly, where we are at is because of Granville, (he’s a) huge part of it,” Ray said.
Colvin first established FECLE in 2020, after learning local sheriff’s deputies were only equipped with ‘soft’ body armor that rifle rounds could penetrate. Colvin decided to take action, coordinating a fundraiser that netted approximately $90,000 to purchase heavy body armor, helmets, go-bags and communication equipment for local officers.
For Colvin, a love of his community motivated him to take action, both then and now.
“There’s a lot of good people and good things in Paris…” he explained. “You can make change. You can help people.”
A reimbursement pledge of roughly $9,000 from the Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust, the City of Paris’ insurance carrier, will also assist in covering the steep cost of the new tech.
Soon after Ray contacted Colvin, the Edgar County Sheriff’s Department joined in the effort and the goal of purchasing a second drone was set. Robinson is working toward his FAA remote pilot’s license and hopes to help his fellow deputies work toward earning their own UAV credentials once the drone arrives.
According to Rogers, the Paris Fire Department hopes to acquire a third drone if enough donations are made. Rogers is also eyeing the possibility of assembling a search and rescue task force of local emergency response entities to educate and train more drone operators within the ranks of Edgar County’s police, fire and EMS personnel.
“I think the more (drones) we have in the county, the better off everybody that lives here is. It’s not just to make my department better, it’s (to) make the community better. And that’s honestly the way we’ve approached it,” Ray said.
“There might be a bad accident or a bad fire – not every drone operator might be able to make it (to the scene). So as long as you have a few of them (operators), our chances are better at achieving 100 percent call out (rate),” Rogers added.
Wood believes that drones will become increasingly commonplace in law enforcement operations.
“Someday a drone will (probably) be a piece of equipment for every officer, about like a gun or radio (are),” he explained.
Representatives from both the Paris Police Department and the Edgar County Sheriff’s Department were quick to thank the community for its role in funding the purchase of both units.
“The majority of it has been donations. The community’s really come together and definitely helped support us doing this,” Robinson said.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the community. That’s the nuts and bolts of it. That’s what it comes down to – the support we received,” Rogers concluded in another interview.
According to Ray, the monetary cost of the M30T pales in comparison to the difference it could make in the field.
“If we can save one life with this, then the entire process is worth it. These things are going to be invaluable to us – you’re not gonna be able to put a price on it,” he said.
Currently, the Paris Police Department is roughly two-thirds of the way to its fundraising goal. To donate or learn more about the project, contact the Paris Police Department at 217-465-6351 or reach out to Granville Colvin at 217-822-3425.
Checks can be made out to the Edgar County Community Foundation (ECCF) and dropped off at Prospect Bank in the care of ECCF. Memo lines on the check should read “SPARC – drone fundraiser.”