WIMBERLEY, TEXAS – Law enforcement agencies across Texas have started taking drone training classes to see how unmanned aircraft could benefit their departments.
Drone Pilot LLC. held an intense, two-day course for different state agency administrators in Wimberley Sept. 20 and 21.
The purpose of the class was to teach officers that there are correct and safe ways to fly drones.
“All kinds of stuff that can go wrong,” said John Buell, of Drone Pilot LLC. “The technology is so new and procedures, there’s nothing out there. They just opened up part 107 the FAA gave us to fly. But, they only gave us the legal permission to fly, they’re not actually teaching us how to fly, procedural operations side,” said Buell.
Instructors said just because pilots get their FAA license doesn’t mean they actually know how to fly unmanned aircraft.
Chris Esquivel Junior, the Chief of Police for McAllen ISD in South Texas, said with 33 campuses and nearly 25,000 students near the border, safety is always a concern.
“We have large venues where we have large crowds,” said Chief Esquivel. “They host concerts, they host Christmas parade,” said the Chief.
Gene Robinson designed the course specifically for law enforcement. He took them step by step on how to… (read full news story here)
