Kansas State Polytechnic offering UAS training for law enforcement

SALINA — Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus is working with law enforcement partners to offer a training course specifically targeted at how first responders can utilize unmanned aircraft systems in daily operations and safety procedures. The first-course offering runs April 9-12 at the campus in Salina.

Kurt Carraway, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and the executive director of the Applied Aviation Research Center at Kansas State Polytechnic, said the UAS Law Enforcement Training course was developed based on feedback the campus received from attendees of its Small UAS Commercial Pilot Training course, most of whom — 43 percent — are first responders. The attendees indicated a strong need for a practical flight training program directed at specific-use cases for first responders.

The four-day course will provide attendees with the skills necessary to operate UAS for specific law enforcement purposes. Using Kansas State Polytechnic’s industry-leading technology, pilots will receive hands-on flight training in areas such as flight manoeuvres, crew resource management, accident scene reconstruction, search and rescue operations, and night operations. In addition to flight training, attendees will also learn best practices for UAS operations, Federal Aviation Administration regulatory guidance for law enforcement agencies, and software tools for extracting actionable information from UAS operations.

“The search and rescue scenario will include training using full-motion video sensors and forward-looking infrared sensors,” Carraway said. “It will introduce officers to techniques in using multiple aircraft and crews to execute a replace on station exercise in order to enable a persistent, continuous search capability.”

Replace on station involves sending up a second UAS to replace one already in the air collecting data but nearing battery depletion.

Registration for the course is available at ksu-uas.com/law-enforcement or by contacting Kansas State Polytechnic Professional Education and Outreach at 785-826-2633 or profed@k-state.edu. Registration deadline is April 2.

Kansas State Polytechnic provides numerous flight and operations trainings for UAS. Learn more at ksu-uas.com/.