Drone use by law enforcement is no longer a new idea, but it is new to the South Lyon Police Department, which received its first drone in fall 2024.

After some training provided by FAA-certified pilots, and an exam to make sure the training stuck, the department’s newest resource to keep the community safe was ready to go.

South Lyon Police Chief Doug Baaki wanted to make sure everything was in place before launching the drone in everyday use.

“We have seven pilots who are ready and available on different shifts to operate the drone as needed,” he said.

Chief Baaki went on to explain how much precision is needed to operate a drone.

“You have to know elevation and how to read maps,” he said. “You need to be cognizant of power lines, trees, structures. There are a lot of things to watch out for.”


Many uses

The drone has a seven-mile range from the operator, and is equipped with a 180x zoom camera, and FLIR (forward-looking infrared) capabilities so the pilot can see in the dark. It also comes with non-collision sensors, to alert the operator when it’s getting too close to something.

All of these bells and whistles mean it can, and will, be very handy in many different situations. Among them are:

Watching over large community events
Locating a child who goes missing or wanders off
Searching for people who may be hiding from the police, including at night, by picking up the person’s heat signature via the FLIR camera
Locating an elderly person with diminished mental cognition

In all these situations and more, the new eye in the sky promises to be a tremendous help to the department.

“It’s a pretty amazing tool once you get it up and running,” Chief Baaki said. “It has a pretty impressive camera on it – very clear.”

The department recently deployed the drone at the Carnivale event, which was held in March.

“If someone goes missing, the drone will fly over and search the general area of someone’s pinged phone,” Chief Baaki said.

He added that the drone is also equipped with a PA system, along with a speaker and a flood light, to help with those occasional searches they get at night in wooded and swampy areas.

The Fire Department could also use the drone to search for “hot spots” in a fire event.

“There are a lot of applications,” Chief Baaki said.

The total package price for the drone came in at around $15,000, and was paid out of the department’s general budget.