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posted by martyb on Monday July 06 2015, @01:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-the-air-about-this-one dept.

A Wisconsin robbery and auto theft suspect was captured by police thanks to a borrowed drone on May 31, according to court papers filed yesterday in Middleton, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Marquis Phiffer, 21, stole a car and robbed a convenience store in Middleton, Wisconsin on May 31.

After allegedly stealing a car that had been left running outside a coffee shop and robbing the store at a BP gas station (he declared he had a gun, but the clerk never saw one), Phiffer was pursued by police. A chase that reached speeds of up to 70mph ended when Phiffer crashed into a parked car. He abandoned the car and ran into a marsh near Tiedemann's Pond, just a few blocks from Middleton's National Mustard Museum.

The Middleton Fire Department lent the police a rubber raft and a camera-equipped DJI Phantom quadrocopter drone used in search and rescue operations to locate Phiffer. He was hiding in the water, and when the police reached him "his shoes were floating away from him," along with a "large wad of cash," Wisconsin State Journal's Ed Trevelen reported. More cash and a hypodermic needle were found in his pocket.

Seems like the same thing as calling in a chopper, but a lot less expensive. Anyone know what the cost differential is?


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  • (Score: 1) by lars_stefan_axelsson on Monday July 13 2015, @07:43AM

    by lars_stefan_axelsson (3590) on Monday July 13 2015, @07:43AM (#208369)

    Yes, in a very remote setting of course police via helicopter makes more sense, approaching as much sense as ambulance via helicopter. (That is; a lot of sense).

    However, the powers that be don't see it that way, especially in the US where law enforcement is extremely decentralised and deregulated, so the money isn't there to pool for such resources. That said, you'll still see more helicopter ambulances than police helicopter "quick reaction forces" since ambulance work is "always" (for some version of "always") time critical. If you were injured five minutes ago, you're still going to be injured an hour from now. Most police work however (like 98% of it, excluding traffic monitoring), is showing up (long) after the fact and filling in the report. A guy in a cruiser can do that just as well and much more cheaply than several more guys in a helicopter (who all make more money to boot). Hell, even a guy on a horse could do that just as well. Especially in a rural setting, active chases are even fewer and farther between. Less crime per capita, much less population, and different types of crimes to boot.

    For the once in a blue moon scenarios (Breivik in Norway comes to mind) quick access to a helicopter makes sense though. But having one on standby just for that is going to be money not well spent.)

    --
    Stefan Axelsson