Police tout drone unit in gun arrest at Lubbock's 4th on Broadway parade
Lubbock police officials said an arrest during the 4th on Broadway parade downtown would not have happened as swiftly without the use of drone technology.
Officers arrested a 21-year-old man on a misdemeanor weapons charge July 4 after police received reports from a parade goer who reportedly saw someone in a gray hooded sweatshirt and black pants flash a handgun at someone at the parade that traveled along Broadway from Avenue J to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Lubbock police Cpl. Tony Leal said at the time, the department had three drones in the air monitoring the parade and one was used to search for the subject in question until officers on the ground could approach him.
"I think without the use of the drones, being on scene at the time, that it would have been much more difficult to find that subject in such a large crowd that we had," he said.
According to the affidavit, the man could be seen walking with his left hand holding onto the firearm, a .45 caliber handgun, while it was inside of his sweatshirt.
Patrol officers arrested the man on an unlawful carrying of a weapon charge, since his handgun wasn't holstered when it was in plain sight of people in public. The offense is a class A misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to a year in jail.
"This is a great example of police and the public working together," Leal said. "A member of the public saw something, they said something, they reported it to us and we were able to utilize technology that we had readily available -- thanks to the citizens of Lubbock -- and utilize that to make an arrest of someone that brought a gun to festivities that probably in the event of something went south, things could have gotten worse because they were armed."
However, Lubbock police spokeswoman Kasie Davis said there was no immediate indication that the man had threatened anyone before his arrest.
Leal, who pioneered the use of drone technology at the police department, said the devices have helped officers in hundreds of arrests for crimes ranging from vehicle burglaries to shootings.
He said the department first used drones in 2016 for crime scene documentation. However, Leal said he proposed to police leadership the use of drones to help patrol officers.
A year later, the department began using drones on active crime scenes.
At present, the department has 13 DJI Mavic enterprise edition drones and 21 officers who are licensed to operate them.
Officials said the drones aren't used for constant surveillance over the city but as investigative tools or for short-term monitoring of events.
"We don't want the public to live in fear," Leal said. "We want you to live your life, we want you to know that we are here to help whenever those reports come in, and whenever we get information that something is wrong we will investigate that, we'll look into it, and we'll take all necessary precautions, we'll take all necessary actions to keep the public safe."
Leal said the technology adds another tool at officer's disposal to protect the community. However, he said state law regulates the use of drones in law enforcement. Leal said the Texas Government Code requires them to log their flights and publish them online.
He said officers also can't record the videos or images captured by the drones unless they know a crime is in progress.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Police tout drone use in gun arrest at Lubbock 4th on Broadway parade
