The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department has additional resources to keep citizens safe. Sheriff Dan Hartwig says thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor who gave a generous donation to The State Sheriff’s Association, they took their share, about $27,000, to implement their drone or Unmanned Aerial Systems Department.
“We assigned two lieutenants to get the program up and running, Hartwig explains. We had 13 volunteers who wanted to do it so we got them through their training, got their Part 107 flight training at Austin Straubel (International Airport in Green Bay) , did internal training and went live with it July 13th.
We purchased a total of five drones, one with all the bells and whistles and four for training and daylight operations.”
Hartwig days it didn’t take long for their UAS Unit to be utilized, telling Seehafer News, “We were called to help one of our local fire departments. Silver Creek had a structure fire. We got the drone up in the air with thermal capabilities so we could relay any hot spots back to fire command, so in one day we received our first call.”
A total of five drones were purchased with the most expensive costing $10,000 featuring a state of the art camera, night vision and the ability to lift things.
Hartwig adds “It not only increases and enhances our partnerships with law enforcement but with our fire and EMS partners as well. It’s another resource that the Sheriff’s Office is bringing to the table to help our community.”
