While PGA fans were keeping an eye out for golf balls flying through the air, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office was on the lookout for other flying objects.
CASTLE PINES, Colo. — Just as PGA fans at the BMW Championship were looking to the sky, so were deputies with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO), but the two groups were looking for different things.
For the first time, DCSO deployed drone detection technology at a large event. The technology, provided by UAS Sentry, allowed Sheriff's Office volunteer Morris Hansen to see the location of drones and their pilots in flight.
“We have receivers that detect any drone activity,” Hansen explained, “which could be friendly drones, rogue drones or any activity within a two-mile radius.”
This will allow authorities to stay on top of potential wrongdoing, he said.
“People just want to see what a golf tournament is like,” Hansen said. “People want to use drones. All we're providing is making sure it's a safe environment for the players and a safe environment for the public that's here. And that's it.”
Hansen said the technology has been in place since Monday. There were no violations during tournament play, but temporary flight restrictions were in place between 7am and 6pm each day. Anyone caught flying won't be arrested or fined, but will be asked to ground their aircraft.
“It's like, 'Oh, there's a drone in the sky. Let's find out where the pilot is and have a conversation,'” Hansen said.
However, this technology has the ability to capture drones as soon as they take off.
“What we're looking at here is a Remote ID receiver,” Hansen said, “that's constantly scanning for Remote IDs of drones in the air. When it detects a drone, it gives us the drone's longitude and latitude, as well as the location of the pilot.”
He explained that there were several media drones filming the event, which would be displayed on a map, with the drones' IDs memorized and color-coded icons to let you know if they were allowed to fly.
“If you think of Remote ID like a license plate, you can immediately recognize the license plate and know it's a friendly drone, which is what I know,” Hansen said.
Hansen said that outside of major incidents, the sheriff's office could carry handheld receivers to monitor the skies above incident scenes. If an incident occurs that requires an aerial rescue, deputies on the scene could use the receivers to track the pilot and drone and call in the drone to be shot down.
“The sooner we can do this, the better it will be for everybody,” Hansen said. “Scene safety and manned aircraft pilots will be able to make it more practical both in everyday life and in situations like this.”
Hansen has been working with drones for several years and noted there is a lot of interest from law enforcement in finding ways to take advantage of the changing world of technology.
