Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this weekend.

[Uncle Meat]

While flying around our downtown river area I noticed two men taking photos around an old abandoned building/factory. Being curious I wandered over to the area to see what they were photographing. These guys had black jackets with INVESTIGATOR on the back, were armed with both guns and DSLR’s. Found out they worked for the local PD. After a short conversation I discovered that on the night before three young men had climbed on top of an abandoned factory roof and one of them fell 4 stories through a skylight. Once the investigators saw my Phantom we had a quick discussion about the range and I was then asked if I could get some video footage of the roof for them since there was no way they could get up there safely (factory building is over 150 years old) and take still shots of the area. Of course I said sure! Went and charged some battery packs and ended up giving them over 20 minutes of aerial footage of the roof where the accident occurred.

I was sure to let them know if they ever needed aerial footage of some other area or crime scene to give me a call and I would be happy to donate my time and effort. You never can have too many friends on the "force"!

U.M.

 

[gordhunt]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

That's great man

Sent from my S4

 

[davemcm]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

While flying around our downtown river area I noticed two men taking photos around an old abandoned building/factory. Being curious I wandered over to the area to see what they were photographing. These guys had black jackets with INVESTIGATOR on the back, were armed with both guns and DSLR’s. Found out they worked for the local PD. After a short conversation I discovered that on the night before three young men had climbed on top of an abandoned factory roof and one of them fell 4 stories through a skylight. Once the investigators saw my Phantom we had a quick discussion about the range and I was then asked if I could get some video footage of the roof for them since there was no way they could get up there safely (factory building is over 150 years old) and take still shots of the area. Of course I said sure! Went and charged some battery packs and ended up giving them over 20 minutes of aerial footage of the roof where the accident occurred.

I was sure to let them know if they ever needed aerial footage of some other area or crime scene to give me a call and I would be happy to donate my time and effort. You never can have too many friends on the "force"!

U.M.

One friend on the force is one too many if ya ask me.

 

[gbshovel]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

You best stay away from my farm ! I will shoot you down..

 

[tawd77]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

They stopped what they were doing to explain themselves to you(instead of letting you hear about it in the news), and have a nice chat about the range of your RC quad. Good use of their time.
I wouldn't have done them any favors. You are already paying them to do their job, so why do it for them? While you were strategically flying your quad around playing investigator, I'm willing to bet the cops were sitting back smirking at each other thinking "THANKS, SUCKER!!" lol

 

[Uncle Meat]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Wow, so much disdain for our law enforcement. :x No wonder our country is going to crap. Unlike so many of you I tend to enjoy helping people. Them being law enforcement makes it even better. Sucker or not I have karma on my side.

U.M.

 

[PinkFloyd4Runner]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

They stopped what they were doing to explain themselves to you(instead of letting you hear about it in the news), and have a nice chat about the range of your RC quad. Good use of their time.
I wouldn't have done them any favors. You are already paying them to do their job, so why do it for them? While you were strategically flying your quad around playing investigator, I'm willing to bet the cops were sitting back smirking at each other thinking "THANKS, SUCKER!!" lol

Really unfortunate to hear this from you if you are being serious. Granted you would look upon the police with disdain if they pulled you over in the past or whatever...but they are doing their job. No doubt there are definitely some terrible officers that are just dicks in general when dealing with citizens but the majority of officers out there are kind hearted and would take a bullet for you if it meant protecting the citizens from suspect(s). I've had some run-ins with the police during teenage years but I don't dislike them for that. If you think about it, it's really cool if law enforcement came to you and asked about your phantom because how often do you hear the police coming to the public for help (excluding man searches, identifying suspects/victims, etc) PERSONALLY and ask you to assist them in their investigation? Yes you won't get a flashy award or a cash reward after they complete their investigation... but the proud feeling you will have knowing your Phantom helped close an investigation would be better than anything else. It's called being a good Samaritan!

 

[Hawkeye 1]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Good for you, U.M., you absolutely did the right thing. These flamers of the police would be the first ones to dial 911 if someone was breaking into their house. In my experience, the ones that criticize the police the most are the ones that don't have the balls to do the job themselves !

 

[mikeydaddio]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

They stopped what they were doing to explain themselves to you(instead of letting you hear about it in the news), and have a nice chat about the range of your RC quad. Good use of their time.
I wouldn't have done them any favors. You are already paying them to do their job, so why do it for them? While you were strategically flying your quad around playing investigator, I'm willing to bet the cops were sitting back smirking at each other thinking "THANKS, SUCKER!!" lol

Not understanding the "sucker" part. For me, that'd be a fun challenge like someone giving you a task to complete and you seeing how well you (and your Phantom) can do with it. How you can be a "sucker" while having fun and at the same time helping law enforcement... is beyond me. I do this for a hobby so my usual routine is to fly over stuff (mostly woods) and then look at the video to see if I got anything interesting. Maybe a few feral pigs. Maybe a deer. A panther if I'm really lucky. But most of the time it's nothing but treetops and trails. To get a "challenge" to complete just makes it more fun!

Mike

 

[thongbong]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Thats awesome, they need to compensate you with a CSI sticker to put on your Phantom!

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Some people just hate the police. Having been one for 30 years I can assure them the feeling is mutual. All I can say is I met many many more people willing to help me. The ones who didn't tended to be the people we were dealing with. Well done to the OP for helping, its what I would call a win win.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Thanks for support guys! I can honestly say it WAS a challenge too. I had to fly from the opposite side of the river and navigate over power lines. At 50+ years of age my depth perception is not the greatest. :lol: All this while trying to film skylites on top of a building I can't see. Here's a frame grab of the skylites in question. I'm assuming the guy climbed out of skylite "A" and walked down the roof until he fell through skylite "B". Won't know this for sure until I hear back from the investigators.

Here's hoping they call me back some day for more! Lot of fun! :mrgreen:

U.M.

 

[68gtconv]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Not sure you could legally accept the sticker as that might be construed as compensation in which case you would be subject to prosecution for using your phantom for commercial purposes.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Not sure you could legally accept the sticker as that might be construed as compensation in which case you would be subject to prosecution for using your phantom for commercial purposes.

:lol:

CSI stickers are invaluable! Come at me FAA I dare ya! :lol:

U.M.

 

[gen3benz]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Hell yeah, thats awesome. Eat that FAA!

 

[gadgetdude]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Good for you Uncle Meat! Its all about relationships and networking. Now all us Phantom Pilots have two new supporters that I am confident will support us down the road if need be.

 

[Hawkeye 1]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Some people just hate the police. Having been one for 30 years I can assure them the feeling is mutual. All I can say is I met many many more people willing to help me. The ones who didn't tended to be the people we were dealing with. Well done to the OP for helping, its what I would call a win win.

+ 1 Shrimpfarmer...30 for me also. We understand them and consider the source !

 

[thongbong]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

If point A is the access stair well, I can see how the poor chap could have slipped and slid down through point B.

 

[Great Pumpkin]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

Good job, Uncle Meat! This is just the kind of positive news the public needs to hear about quadcopters to counter the idea that all of us pilots have nothing better to do than disturb peoples' privacy by flying into their backyards and catching them in the act.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Re: Used my Phantom to assist local law enforement this week

If point A is the access stair well, I can see how the poor chap could have slipped and slid down through point B.

I doubt there was any sliding involved to be honest. The pitch of that roof is not very steep at all. It was after dark when this happened and I believe alcohol was involved. I think he just walked down the roof and stepped right on and through the skylite.

U.M.