Drones – Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS)

Drones – Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS)

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office uses a variety of tools to help keep the community safe, including Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), also known as drones.

Drones help reduce costs and improve safety for both the public and deputies. Their use is strictly regulated to protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.

Drones are used in several types of operations:

Search and Rescue
Drones help search large areas quickly and reach places that are hard to access. This makes it easier to find missing people, such as hikers or children, and improves the speed and success of search efforts.

Traffic Crash Reconstruction
After a traffic crash, it is important to clear the road quickly to keep people safe and restore traffic flow. Before clearing the scene, it must be documented. Drones take aerial photos that help investigators understand what happened while reducing the time needed to reopen the road.

Law Enforcement Response
During incidents involving dangerous suspects, drones can safely provide important information about a person’s location. This helps reduce risk to deputies. Drones are also used to document crime scenes more quickly and efficiently.

Information collected by drones is handled according to Oregon law, including how it is stored, shared, and deleted.

The Sheriff’s Office began using drones in 2019 through a grant-funded program. As part of that program, a summary of drone use is shared with the public each year.