Crow Wing County law enforcement vying for drone funding

Crow Wing County is vying for funding to buy a pair of high-end drones officials say will help law enforcement in northern Minnesota and save the state money.

But they're also preparing for pushback from those who fear the drones could invade privacy.

Capt. Scott Goddard of the Crow Wing County Sheriff's department said the possibilities for law enforcement seem endless now that technology is good enough to justify the expense — which wasn't the case a few years ago.

"At the time, all they would do is fly around. Then pretty soon the cameras went on them, then the next tool and the next tool, he said. "You can get infrared, you can get night vision. You can get the best cameras on the market. Really, it's limitless.".

Goddard's department and the office of emergency management is applying for an $80,000 Innovation Funding grant through the National Joint Powers Alliance.

They needed the county government's support before filing the paperwork. On Tuesday, they got that approval.

If they get the money, Goddard said they'll buy two drones and put six people from the sheriff and local fire departments through special FAA flight training.

Crow Wing County Emergency Manager John Bowen said the county hopes to use the drones to search for missing people. He said sheriff's departments in urban Twin Cities counties like Anoka have been using drones for a few years, but they're a lot less common in more rural northern regions.

"There was a good story from Anoka County last fall. A hunter and his dog got lost overnight. He got stuck in a swamp and called 911 but couldn't give his location. They put a drone up. They found him, and the conservation officers could see the drone, pretty much walked right to him and brought him out," he said.

Crow Wing would be the first county in its area to get a drone, and he said having one could save the state a lot of money. Hunters and anglers get lost pretty often in northern Minnesota. Usually, searching for them involves expensive flights in DNR helicopters.

"Just that run time and operation time is pretty expensive through their budgets," he said.

Bowen has high hopes for the grant. But County Commissioner Paul Thiede said even if they get funding, buying drones is going to be a complex issue.

He approved the grant application, but said people in the Brainerd area are going to be skeptical of anything that could be used for surveillance.

There's "a healthy skepticism that exists, and it probably exists more vocally and openly today than it did five years ago, 10 years ago," he said.

Goddard said the department will work on protocols to protect people's privacy, once the department has access to drones.

Grant recipients will be announced in June.