The Red Wing City Council recently held a public hearing to hear a presentation about the purchase and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, by the Red Wing Police Department and Red Wing Fire Department.
Police Chief, Nick Sather, says the Police Department could use a UAV for many things including, locating a lost person,an escaped prisoner, search and rescue, responding to a natural disaster and many more applications.
Sather says the public often worries about privacy, he says state and federal regulations prohibit any spying type activities.
Sather says around 130 agencies in Minnesota, including Goodhue County, already use drones.
Members of both the Police and Fire departments will get specific training by the Federal Aviation Administration to become drone certified pilots.
The implementation of the UAV program is budgeted already for in their 2024 Safety Equipment budget.
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