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Looking for some "Experienced Input" with working with an active SWAT/SRT team

BigAl07

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I've been asked to work/train with a local SRT here with the Sheriff's Office next month. They are looking for examples of how sUAS can benefit safety, expediency, and overall Situational Awareness with their team specifically.

I've worked with Police/LEA extensively over the last couple of years but only with SWAT/SRT in terms of teaching them moral/legal flight with sUAS. In terms of Real-World flying with SRT/SWAT I am looking for ideas and suggestions. What scenarios do they encounter that I can replicate and demonstrate sUAS functionality? I'm looking for things outside of what your average Law Enforcement Officer will be looking for.

Thanks in advance for your input!!

Allen
 
I spent a full day and evening working with the local Sheriff SWAT team, training them on the tactical deployment of drones. They had a brand new M2E that had been donated to them. First up was an outdoor assessment of the skills of the 2 designated LE pilots. One had just passed his 107 and was a competent pilot. The second had never touched a drone. I spent most of that preliminary time (3 batteries worth) with the second pilot on my Spark on basic flying skills. By the end of the 3rd battery, he was flying decent figure 8s and manual orbits.

We then moved for several hours to indoor tactical flights with my Mavic Air and prop guards. I was not sure how far the signal would reach through multiple doors and hallways and did a test. I was astonished to see it went through multiple hallways and walls with virtually no signal loss. I then trained them on flying the drone down hallways and clearing rooms with it. For that training, I was a remote VO, staying with the drone, in radio contact with them. VOs were a necessity. A second person to act as another VO to help me would have been invaluable (I was training them by myself.) If I had it to do over, I'd bring someone else to help me - i.e., for indoor flights, a VO to be with the drone in radio contact with me while I stay with the pilot as a second VO.

[For the naysayers that poo-poo drones as worthless for indoor tactical ops because they are easily disabled by the bad guys - yes, the bad guys can obviously and easily swat a drone down. However, you then have valuable intelligence precisely knowing where the bad guy is. Plus, you may get more actionable intelligence before they take down the drone - i.e., you're able to see there are two bad guys (not just one) and with a hostage, etc.]

Once they had that skill down, they practiced incorporating it into their SWAT team tactics. The pilot would be last in the SWAT team lineup as they entered the building. When the team commander (who was first) asked for drone support, the team would kneel down and the pilot launched the drone over their heads to fly ahead of them. As they progressed, the pilot stayed at the rear of the line and the team followed the drone, with the pilot keeping them apprised what he could see on the display. We realized an after-market add-on LED light source on the drone was pretty much a necessity in case the power/lights in the building were out.

Next, we moved to a 2 story building downtown that was empty. They wanted to try flying it through a second story window from the ground and clear the building from outside (which the 107 pilot clearly had the skill to do). However, the wind was too strong and unpredictable to safely get it through the window with the swirling wind around the downtown buildings and I nixed that idea (especially since it was my Mavic Air.) While it would have been worth the risk in a real-world scenario, it was not worth taking the risk for training. We moved indoors and they practiced flying it up/down stairwells and into rooms. They began to realize how powerful a tool it was - i.e., parking the drone on the floor at the end of a hallway keeping an eye out for bad guys to come out of rooms, eliminating the need to post a guy at the end of the hallway, etc.

By this time, it was late afternoon and I wanted them to experience night flight with their M2E. We went up on the mountain where I live and had previously alerted the residents that the SWAT team would be flying a drone and that aliens were not invading. I wanted them to fly to a water tower a half mile distant from the launch point and orbit it at night with the drone. Working up to the night flight, we first flew the mission at sunset, then again at nautical twilight. Finally we waited for it to get good and dark. So dark that you couldn't see the water tower from the launch point. They came up with the idea of using their rifle laser to put a point of light on the water tower a half mile mile away for the drone to hone in on. Worked like a charm. Once at the tower, they used the Spotlight on the M2E to turn night into day and orbit it. The residents in the house next to the water tower knew the training was going to occur and had invited all the neighbors to come watch and were on their back porch with all the neighbors "oohing" and "aahing". For that mission, I acted as a remote VO at the base of the water tower and was in contact with them via radio to ensure no problems. The second pilot acted as the VO back at the launch site.

Both pilots flew all the missions both indoors and outdoors. They intend to use their M2E for outdoor ops. After flying my Mavic Air indoors, they decided that's what they want for indoor ops. The chief pilot said he was going to save his money to buy one out of his own pocket; his office does not have access to the financial resources that a LE office would have in a big city. I've been trying to find a great deal on an MA for them (I paid $560 for my MA last Thanksgiving at Target on sale); if anyone knows of a great deal on a Mavic Air, clue me in - I want to help them.

Was a tiring day 9 hours straight, but a heck of a lot of fun. There was significant risk in everything we did - but the risk was understood, well managed and mitigated. No drones were damaged and no mishaps occurred other than me cutting my finger on a prop indoors with the Mavic Air (does that classify as a combat injury? :) )

They got a lot out of it and were deeply appreciative. I was extremely impressed with the SWAT team pilots. They kept a log of EVERY flight on their M2E - i.e., who flew, how long, doing what, any problems, etc. The care they took of their M2E drone was exceptional. Don't hesitate to ask them for input, it was their idea to use their rifle laser to paint the water tower so the drone had something to hone in on in the dark.

They said they obviously couldn't use me for tactical ops, but would give me a call for any SAR missions they had. My advice? Don't be afraid to push the envelope with them. Recognize risk and mitigate it. And have a lot of fun. It was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I've ever done with drones. The SWAT team was a great bunch of guys to work with - a good counterbalance to all the recent negative publicity that police get. Anything I can do to help them is worth my time.
 
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It does sound like a very fun but tiring day!

I do have a couple of questions, though. Not trying to be the drone police. I'm genuinely interested in these kind of questions.

Did you train/test the operators to satisfy your Daylight waiver training protocol (all the waivers I've seen require this) ? Or, perhaps they hold a organizational waiver and it is included?

It sounds like you are in the camp that believes you can operate a uas as far from you as control signal will allow so long as someone acting as VO can see and determine the orientation of the uas while in verbal contact with the operator of the controls? e.g. a couple more VOs and you could probably get out to 5 miles in suburban locals.

While I personally don't see much risk in flying over folks wearing PPE with a small uas with prop-guards, it is still not technically allowed without a waiver. Perhaps since doing so indoors, Part 107 doesn't apply?
 
I spent a full day and evening working with the local Sheriff SWAT team, training them on the tactical deployment of drones. They had a brand new M2E that had been donated to them. First up was an outdoor assessment of the skills of the 2 designated LE pilots. One had just passed his 107 and was a competent pilot. The second had never touched a drone. I spent most of that preliminary time (3 batteries worth) with the second pilot on my Spark on basic flying skills. By the end of the 3rd battery, he was flying decent figure 8s and manual orbits.

We then moved for several hours to indoor tactical flights with my Mavic Air and prop guards. I was not sure how far the signal would reach through multiple doors and hallways and did a test. I was astonished to see it went through multiple hallways and walls with virtually no signal loss. I then trained them on flying the drone down hallways and clearing rooms with it. For that training, I was a remote VO, staying with the drone, in radio contact with them. VOs were a necessity. A second person to act as another VO to help me would have been invaluable (I was training them by myself.) If I had it to do over, I'd bring someone else to help me - i.e., for indoor flights, a VO to be with the drone in radio contact with me while I stay with the pilot as a second VO.

[For the naysayers that poo-poo drones as worthless for indoor tactical ops because they are easily disabled by the bad guys - yes, the bad guys can obviously and easily swat a drone down. However, you then have valuable intelligence precisely knowing where the bad guy is. Plus, you may get more actionable intelligence before they take down the drone - i.e., you're able to see there are two bad guys (not just one) and with a hostage, etc.]

Once they had that skill down, they practiced incorporating it into their SWAT team tactics. The pilot would be last in the SWAT team lineup as they entered the building. When the team commander (who was first) asked for drone support, the team would kneel down and the pilot launched the drone over their heads to fly ahead of them. As they progressed, the pilot stayed at the rear of the line and the team followed the drone, with the pilot keeping them apprised what he could see on the display. We realized an after-market add-on LED light source on the drone was pretty much a necessity in case the power/lights in the building were out.

Next, we moved to a 2 story building downtown that was empty. They wanted to try flying it through a second story window from the ground and clear the building from outside (which the 107 pilot clearly had the skill to do). However, the wind was too strong and unpredictable to safely get it through the window with the swirling wind around the downtown buildings and I nixed that idea (especially since it was my Mavic Air.) While it would have been worth the risk in a real-world scenario, it was not worth taking the risk for training. We moved indoors and they practiced flying it up/down stairwells and into rooms. They began to realize how powerful a tool it was - i.e., parking the drone on the floor at the end of a hallway keeping an eye out for bad guys to come out of rooms, eliminating the need to post a guy at the end of the hallway, etc.

By this time, it was late afternoon and I wanted them to experience night flight with their M2E. We went up on the mountain where I live and had previously alerted the residents that the SWAT team would be flying a drone and that aliens were not invading. I wanted them to fly to a water tower a half mile distant from the launch point and orbit it at night with the drone. Working up to the night flight, we first flew the mission at sunset, then again at nautical twilight. Finally we waited for it to get good and dark. So dark that you couldn't see the water tower from the launch point. They came up with the idea of using their rifle laser to put a point of light on the water tower a half mile mile away for the drone to hone in on. Worked like a charm. Once at the tower, they used the Spotlight on the M2E to turn night into day and orbit it. The residents in the house next to the water tower knew the training was going to occur and had invited all the neighbors to come watch and were on their back porch with all the neighbors "oohing" and "aahing". For that mission, I acted as a remote VO at the base of the water tower and was in contact with them via radio to ensure no problems. The second pilot acted as the VO back at the launch site.

Both pilots flew all the missions both indoors and outdoors. They intend to use their M2E for outdoor ops. After flying my Mavic Air indoors, they decided that's what they want for indoor ops. The chief pilot said he was going to save his money to buy one out of his own pocket; his office does not have access to the financial resources that a LE office would have in a big city. I've been trying to find a great deal on an MA for them (I paid $560 for my MA last Thanksgiving at Target on sale); if anyone knows of a great deal on a Mavic Air, clue me in - I want to help them.

Was a tiring day 9 hours straight, but a heck of a lot of fun. There was significant risk in everything we did - but the risk was understood, well managed and mitigated. No drones were damaged and no mishaps occurred other than me cutting my finger on a prop indoors with the Mavic Air (does that classify as a combat injury? :) )

They got a lot out of it and were deeply appreciative. I was extremely impressed with the SWAT team pilots. They kept a log of EVERY flight on their M2E - i.e., who flew, how long, doing what, any problems, etc. The care they took of their M2E drone was exceptional. Don't hesitate to ask them for input, it was their idea to use their rifle laser to paint the water tower so the drone had something to hone in on in the dark.

They said they obviously couldn't use me for tactical ops, but would give me a call for any SAR missions they had. My advice? Don't be afraid to push the envelope with them. Recognize risk and mitigate it. And have a lot of fun. It was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I've ever done with drones. The SWAT team was a great bunch of guys to work with - a good counterbalance to all the recent negative publicity that police get. Anything I can do to help them is worth my time.

Thanks for your input and for posting this thread, Al. Because, I will be in the same predicament in the next few months, with Honolulu Police Department - Kaneohe Police Station. But as a volunteer TEMS (Tactical EMS) and a drone operator, there’s only two drone operator in the force for now, and I will be the second operator once, I pass my TEMS refresher class in September.

I need a strategy, when I move back home to Hawaii after so many years of being away, and felt that to be connected, with first responders is the best way that I know how to grow my network quicker.

Right now, The PD are flying confiscated Mavics and P4Ps in my soon to be satiation, but Honolulu SWAT and FD SAR, and park rangers in remote areas where tourists are prone to get lost are quipped, with Matrice drones. I hope to someday, join them, once I build enough muscles.
 
I forgot to mention that I also spent time with them explaining the differences and how the drone handles differently in Standard, Sport, GPS and Atti modes - particularly ATTI mode.
 
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It does sound like a very fun but tiring day!

I do have a couple of questions, though. Not trying to be the drone police. I'm genuinely interested in these kind of questions.

Did you train/test the operators to satisfy your Daylight waiver training protocol (all the waivers I've seen require this) ? Or, perhaps they hold a organizational waiver and it is included?

It sounds like you are in the camp that believes you can operate a uas as far from you as control signal will allow so long as someone acting as VO can see and determine the orientation of the uas while in verbal contact with the operator of the controls? e.g. a couple more VOs and you could probably get out to 5 miles in suburban locals.

While I personally don't see much risk in flying over folks wearing PPE with a small uas with prop-guards, it is still not technically allowed without a waiver. Perhaps since doing so indoors, Part 107 doesn't apply?

Some answers:
  • The drone was never out of sight of the pilot (and his VO beside him) at night. While they couldn't see the water tower until he illuminated it with the spotlight, he could easily see the drone at half a mile with the nav lights. And when they flew the M2E with the beacon instead of the spotlight, it looked like a UFO and could be seen for miles. With the spotlight on, the drone could easily be seen even further away. I was a remote VO at the water tower only for safety - not to fulfill the requirement for VLOS.
  • Yes, I have taken and passed Rupprecht's Night Operations Training Course and spent some time educating them on the challenges of night flight.
  • While the 107 pilot had put in for their night waiver, it was not yet approved. So technically speaking, we were doing that night flight as a hobbyist flight (at that time permitted under the law), not a 107 flight.
  • Regarding flight of the drone over the team, see extensive discussion here on Section 107.39 Operation over human beings. Since 107.39 permits flight over persons "Directly participating in the operation of the small unmanned aircraft", we concluded the entire team was certainly involved in the operation of the UAS, not just the pilot (i.e., the team leader determined when to launch the drone, not the pilot - and even me, while not a member of the team, was clearly participating in the operation of the drone.) That in addition to their PPE (i.e, helmets, flak jackets, etc.) it was clear there was minimal risk. Finally, there was no practical way to get the drone out in front of the team in a narrow hallway unless you either (a) had the entire team quickly and awkwardly get in back of the pilot while he launched and then reform in front of him, or (b) had the pilot in front leading the team. Neither of those options made tactical sense.
I would recommend that in training, the SWAT team also be educated on the possibility of operating under Part 91 COA which provides more flexibility especially when near an airport or in controlled airspace. For a Part 91 COA, the applicant’s entire program is considered when applying for this authorization, including how the pilots will be certified, operating environments, and procedures for obtaining access into airspace with local air traffic facilities. The thought of having an entire program approved can be enticing, versus the piecemeal approach that Part 107 can seem at times. However, this process can be extremely lengthy – especially when waiting for the Public Declaration letter to be approved. But public safety entities can also get emergency COAs which waive many of the provisions of 107.
 
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I've been asked to work/train with a local SRT here with the Sheriff's Office next month. They are looking for examples of how sUAS can benefit safety, expediency, and overall Situational Awareness with their team specifically.

I've worked with Police/LEA extensively over the last couple of years but only with SWAT/SRT in terms of teaching them moral/legal flight with sUAS. In terms of Real-World flying with SRT/SWAT I am looking for ideas and suggestions. What scenarios do they encounter that I can replicate and demonstrate sUAS functionality? I'm looking for things outside of what your average Law Enforcement Officer will be looking for.

Thanks in advance for your input!!

Allen
Sounds like a great opportunity. I hope to do similar with my local LEO, Fire and US Marshals ( more training wk shop with USMS).

Internal as @rcdancer outlined is great!
For the SRT teams, exercises often practiced is attempting to breach a structure or compound undetected, surveying or monitor activity. 1) Practicing quick aerial orbit survey scans, 2) position drone in observation orbit to observe targets via hover or land on opposing building. Will you be utilizing the M210 and dual gimble with a Z30 camera or XT / XT2?

Distance zoom with Z30; Good practice to survey from a distance, high in sky beyond hearing or easily see drone. Great practice for country / farm homestead op. Have a few be the Role-play Perps and assist team moving in reporting Perp locations & movements. Monitor a moving vehicle, zoom in to collect & report occupants, weapons, etc. Use Drone to collect information: car tags, make & model, number of targets, assist to assess weapons strength.

Provide aerial view, capture & print or draw the layout.

Install bright illumination...ME2 light or M210 Lume Cubes... they have BT control. Can be used as a distraction out Ft Window, allowing team to breach rear.

Thermal locate and Illumination, track or light up target attempting to flee.
 
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Sounds like a great opportunity. I hope to do similar with my local LEO, Fire and US Marshals ( more training wk shop with USMS).

Internal as @rcdancer outlined is great!
For the SRT teams, exercises often practiced is attempting to breach a structure or compound undetected, surveying or monitor activity. 1) Practicing quick aerial orbit survey scans, 2) position drone in observation orbit to observe targets via hover or land on opposing building. Will you be utilizing the M210 and dual gimble with a Z30 camera or XT / XT2?

Distance zoom with Z30; Good practice to survey from a distance, high in sky beyond hearing or easily see drone. Great practice for country / farm homestead op. Have a few be the Role-play Perps and assist team moving in reporting Perp locations & movements. Monitor a moving vehicle, zoom in to collect & report occupants, weapons, etc. Use Drone to collect information: car tags, make & model, number of targets, assist to assess weapons strength.

Provide aerial view, capture & print or draw the layout.

Install bright illumination...ME2 light or M210 Lume Cubes... they have BT control. Can be used as a distraction out Ft Window, allowing team to breach rear.

Thermal locate and Illumination, track or light up target attempting to flee.

Would be nice if they can afford an M210. As it is, their M2E was donated. Most smaller LE offices do not have the same kind of budget that big-city offices have.
 
Just a comment on survey or observation tactics. The M210 with pair of TB55's has a mid-20's flight time.
But if flown to a perch, landed & remained ON.... it can provide extremely long video observation with Z30 or XT cameras without motors running. Watch battery capacity and lift off with enough to RTH, swap & Return. Makes a large platform not very noticeable sitting on a roof or even in back pasture.

I"d have to verify M210v1, the M210v2 can turn off all lights like the M2E discreet "lights out mode" by software control? I believe the v1 can too... but not certain.
 
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I've been asked to work/train with a local SRT here with the Sheriff's Office next month. They are looking for examples of how sUAS can benefit safety, expediency, and overall Situational Awareness with their team specifically.

I've worked with Police/LEA extensively over the last couple of years but only with SWAT/SRT in terms of teaching them moral/legal flight with sUAS. In terms of Real-World flying with SRT/SWAT I am looking for ideas and suggestions. What scenarios do they encounter that I can replicate and demonstrate sUAS functionality? I'm looking for things outside of what your average Law Enforcement Officer will be looking for.

Thanks in advance for your input!!

Allen
Hostile recon is the best example. Hostage or mass shootings would also fit well. Use of smaller drones like DJI Tello that you can post through mail boxes. Use of small drones like Mavic running point in siege situations. They get to move down a corridor before assault team moves. This saves lives big time
 
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So I have used a drone indoors for SRT and swat teams on a regular basis for the last year or so. There are a lot of things that you have to overcome to do it successfully.

Low lighting, signal loss and antenna systems, Tight spaces, no GPS, and prop noise if your team is inside the house and searching techniques... and also some interesting ideas to think about. I'll try to hit all of these quickly and if you want specifics please hit me up.


Low light and darkness is a killer. Regardless which platform you have the optical sensors don't like low or no light and will fly out of control. We tried a bunch of things and homemade lighting to combat this. Ultimately we run multiple firehouse technology lights on the bottom and two other small keychain lights on the front facing forward. With this setup we can fly in complete darkness without any issues.

Signal loss was a big one. We started with the spark and poor little "sparky" got crashed a lot due to signal loss. Try different antenna systems. Depending on what your doing and how big the locations are helix or directional antennas systems work well. The one we are using now actually mounts on top of the armor and allows the pilot to sit inside protected while they fly...only the antennas are exposed. I can search an entire house and push the uas into the backyard and a back house especially with a mavic air that has a way better signal than the spark did...

Tight spaces: so currently we have a spark, mavic air, mavic 2 enterprise, and tello. The one we use the most is the mavic air. It fits in tight spaces..its stable..and you seem to be able to bump into stuff and it stays flying. We have used the mavic 2 enterprise with the light but it is big..and expensive if you crash. I believe if the spark 2 is released and has ocusync 2 this will be my next purchase and may be even better than the mavic air.

Remember once you are inside you lose your gps...unless... you are close to a window. If you are close to a window and the uas picks up GPS it will try to return home...and more than likely wont make it..just a interesting lesson learned! And yes you will have all sorts of compass errors and other errors most you can ignore. Just know that if you land it will not take back off.

And noise. Some of the swat guys that are running peltors were complaining about prop noise when searching while the drone was still moving in the house. For this reason we changed our sop. Remeber these are not swat robots. We should not be searching a room..team moves forward..then to the next room team moves forward (in most cases...it just runs down your battery). My suggestion for SOP is to have the drone enter the house and search the house prior to the team making entry. If the battery is low land it in a place where you can see if a threat popped out and then turn off the props. Even with only 1 or 2 minutes on a battery the camera will last 15 mins or so..

Besides our antenna system the other thing we use successfully is Blue-link streaming device. We plug it into the HDMI port of the crystal sky monitor and stream the live view to the team leader via his iPhone attached to his wrist so he can see what he is pushing his team into and plan ahead before they enter (closed doors, open doors, layout etc) this has been well received and a great tool.

Most of our teams are finding that we are WAY more successful with the drones then we have ever been with the very expensive robots. Just takes a ton of practice.

Oh ya..and remember...there is no FAA regulations on UAS when flying indoors. Just the time you fly from the exterior to the interior.


Let me know if you need more info and good luck...
 
Like y'all, we (Hays County Texas) have been using drones for the last year with SWAT on several different types of calls.
As for the illumination inside of buildings, we have a Enterprise that has a flood light attached to the drone that we can turn on and off and it operates fantastic inside. We even use it to open doors that are ajar but not completely open. We have not run into any connectivity issues (GPS) with the Enterprise except for short moments losing connectivity, but it quickly comes back without issue.
We also use Tello's and Mavics inside of buildings as well, but those drones are a little more susceptible to the loss of connectivity. For outdoors we have a Inspire I and a M210 with the Z30 and XT2.

rcdancer.... thank you sir, you did a great job of describing the uses of the drones with SWAT or SRT.
 
Good stuff! Thanks to all! I have not flown for LE yet, but have been questioned. Fly for FD only at this time.

This makes for great reference material!
 

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