Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) aren't exactly new to the tech scene, but it wasn't until the last year or so that the public seemed to really take notice.

Drones are more prevalent in the photography industry than any other, and the projected number of UAV hobbyists is steadily climbing every day. Although nearly 60% of Americans have seen a drone in operation, as reported by a Pew Research Center survey, many still have reservations about the where's, how's and why's in regards to how this technology is being used.

Curiosity is growing nationwide, but it's public officials that are particularly seeking out resources for more education and training on how drones can be used to help keep our communities safe.

Take Southern California for example. Upon heavy demand from local law enforcement and fire departments, DSLRPros and DJI hosted a Public Safety UAV Event in February so professionals could experience and learn about the technology first-hand.

They demonstrated how local public safety are already successfully using drones in the field today for emergency management, disaster relief, search and rescue, wildfire combat, structural damage assessment, and much more.

Additionally, various industry experts spoke in regards to how UAV technology is currently being used and laid out the framework necessary to develop an effective, legal drone program.

Aside from being open to the general public, 5 search and rescue organizations, 8 fire departments and 17 law enforcement departments were invited to attend the DSLRPros event at no charge.

"Being able to network with the technology providers themselves and other folks in law and fire from all throughout Southern California was a unique opportunity in it of itself" says John Kubota, Fire Captain of Torrance Fire Department. "Getting our hands on some of the DJI drones to see what they're capable of doing and what the future capabilities might look like was a huge added bonus that we were fortunate to experience."

As the use of unmanned aerial vehicle technology continues to rise, it's no wonder people are seeking out resources for more information and education. Thanks to companies like and DJI, both our public safety officials and communities can better trust how the industrial use of drones can benefit society and keep us out of harm's way.

Pew Research Report

Related Links
DSLRPros
UAV News - Suppliers and Technology

Tweet

General Atomics awarded $19.7M for French MQ-9 Reaper support
Washington (UPI) Mar 25, 2019
General Atomics has been awarded an $8.9 million contract to produce and integrate weapons on the French Air Force's MQ-9 Block 1 aircraft. The foreign military sale comes under an undefinitized contract action for the production and integration of the kits for the remotely piloted aircraft, the U.S. Air Force announced Friday. The Reaper is the ninth in the series of remotely piloted aircraft system. The first one was the MQ-1 Predator. Crusing at a speed of around 230 mph, the R ... read more