VILLAS – The Lower Township Council has accepted a bid of $70,614 from 10-75 Emergency Vehicles for outfitting a 2024 Ram Promaster van as a drone command control mobile unit.
Lt. Brian McEwing of the township Police Department said the van will be more than a drone unit vehicle.
“We’re establishing a mobile command post,” McEwing said. “It’s a hybrid vehicle, it’s for large-scale events – planned or unplanned.”
For example, the Escape the Cape event, the officer said, has about 1,000 participants, and drones make it a lot easier to see people in the water – and easier to see people in distress.
McEwing said all township events require a lot of planning, and the Police Department is increasingly organizing coverage with its unmanned aviation systems. He said the most recent real-life application of a UAS, which most nonmilitary drones are called, was to locate a missing person south of the Cape May Canal.
“They have been used for missing persons on a number of occasions,” he said.
McEwing said the van would be outfitted as a solar-battery-powered remote communications center. The van would include multiple computer workstations, its own internet and radios. He said the command center would be able to livestream images from the drones using cell service from anywhere in the township, or the world for that matter.
The officer said the department currently has three drones in its fleet, two of which have thermal optics capability. However, the drone unit’s primary mission is search and rescue.
The largest drone is about 30 inches by 30 inches and weighs about 9 pounds.
“The smallest one is meant to fly indoors,” McEwing said, adding that thise drone would help determine whether a building is clear of individuals, mainly for police officers’ safety.
“If we had a standoff, rather than send officers in we can send a little drone in, rather than put an officer’s life in danger,” he said.
McEwing said the drone unit has grown quite a bit since it was initiated. They are now seven officers certified as drone operators.
“We now have seven guys, and one of our pilots will put the drone into use before I even hear about it,” said McEwing, who is the unit’s supervisor. “What we are seeing now is drones as a first responder.”
The drones are ready 24 hours a day for use anywhere in town, he said, adding that a drone can beat a patrolman to a scene and send back video that contains valuable information. He called it the “future something down the road.”
McEwing said there are places in Lower Township where there are a lot of woods, such as south of the canal, so the unit has used the drones to map out a preplanned route when a mission arises.
He said there is always a concern from the public regarding the use of drones and their video capability. He said they are not out to spy on people going about their daily lives.
“We are very in tune with the privacy of the public,” McEwing said. “Our mission is safety – keeping people out of danger.”
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
