Sheriff’s drones quell standoffs, fight fires

By JUSTIN WIER

jwier@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Aerial surveillance used to be limited to helicopters, but new technology has made it easier for the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office to get an eye in the sky.

“The drones have made a law-enforcement helicopter, which we’ve never had the resources for, available to us,” said Maj. William Cappabianca, officer in charge of the sheriff’s drone unit.

Operating for about six months, the unit says it is the first of its kind in the Mahoning Valley.

Earlier this month, deputies used the drones to develop a game plan during a standoff in Berlin Center.

A suicidal man with multiple weapons refused to come out of an apartment building that had three other units. Cappabianca said deputies put a drone in the air and used an infrared camera to locate the suspect, which helped with plans to evacuate neighbors.

The department has one large drone, which can accommodate an infrared camera, and two smaller drones that are capable of flying indoors.

The department purchased the smaller drone after a standoff in Goshen Township. The Critical Response Team’s robot was being serviced at the time.

Sheriff Jerry Greene saw the potential for flying a drone into a house, Cappabianca said.

“It’s just more logical to send a drone in instead of a human,” he added.

George Gartlic, one of eight deputies licensed to pilot the drones, said the larger drone has a range of 0.5 to 0.75 of a mile. The smaller drones can travel 4 miles.

The batteries last 20 to 30 minutes, but with multiple batteries constantly charging, Gartlic said they can fly more or less indefinitely.

The larger drone can detect heat, and the department has used it to help find missing people at night.

It was used to assist the hazardous-materials team with an industrial fire in Lowellville, Gartlic said.

The thermal camera on the drone located the hot spots, Cappabianca added.

“Normally, firefighters would be outside a burning building and guessing where the hot spots are,” he said.

All told, the department has deployed the drones at least 12 times since April.

Outside of Mahoning County, the drone unit assisted the Trumbull-Ashtabula Group task force to find a marijuana growing site in North Bloomfield.

If certain criteria are met, Cappabianca said the sheriff’s office is willing to help agencies outside the county.