Cranford Police Department assesses and responds to Hurricane Ida damage quicker with drones

Drone Mapping and Thermal Technology from UAS Allows Cranford Police Department to Ensure Community Safety During Flooding

NEW YORK, New York — The Town of Cranford, New Jersey Police Department
recently implemented a drone program into their equipment arsenal, which aided in a
multitude of missions during and after Hurricane Ida, including the quick assessment of flood damage and identification of dangerous or unstable areas.

With training and guidance from Adorama Business Solutions, the premier technology resource for corporate, educational, and government institutions, the Police Department equipped and trained officers in UAS to better serve the community and ensure public safety.

After researching how drones were helping public service sectors keep communities
safe and account for hard-to-surveil areas, Cranford Police Captains Ed Davenport and Guy Patterson worked with Adorama Business Solutions to purchase three drones to aid in various missions: the DJI Mini 2, DJI Mavic Enterprise Advanced, and DJI Mavic Enterprise Dual.

Through hands-on training, the Adorama team educated the department’s staff on drone regulations and utilization, basic flight maneuvers, and identification of unstable regions through hazard mapping and thermal technology.

Shortly after the program was deployed, Hurricane Ida hit the East Coast and caused
massive flooding across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The
drones allowed the department to navigate the disaster in real time and increase
efficiency. Historically a several-hour project, with the help of UAS, Cranford police used drone mapping to assess the extent and scale of flooding in about 20 minutes.

This allowed for quicker delivery of data to rescue teams determining which rescue boats or high water vehicles were necessary for certain areas, resulting in faster allocation of resources and more timely rescues of victims.

Thermal footage from the drones was even used to identify a debris fire in the aftermath of the hurricane that wasn’t visible from the ground level. Through UAS, the Cranford police quickly identified hot spots and coordinated with the Fire Department as they extinguished the fire. The drones also helped in the planning of debris removal from impacted areas.

“The biggest problem with Hurricane Ida was with the flooding events. A vast majority of our streets in our impacted areas weren’t passable. Through UAS, we handled the damage assessments much more conveniently and efficiently,” said Cranford Police Department Captain Guy Patterson. “The amount of data we captured so quickly using the drones was crucial in managing multiple aspects of our response and initial recovery to Hurricane Ida and making sure our community was safe and accounted for.”

With the success and growth of the drone program, Captain Davenport, Captain
Patterson, and the Cranford Police Department are believers and advocates of UAS
programs. Training is now provided on a regular basis, and drones have played an
integral part in finding solutions to regional problems and natural disasters.

For more information on how Adorama Business Solutions Law Enforcement specialists can help incorporate drones and other technology equipment into your department, please visit www.adorama.com/enterprisedrones and www.adorama.com/drones.