According to ThePilot.com, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office in Moore County, North Carolina has added a DJI Matrice 210 UAS to its "Air Force."

The “first-ever” dual-camera UAS for simultaneous thermal and standard color imagery, the DJI Matrice 210 has a weather resistant design, an upward-facing gimbal mount, dual battery bays, thermal imaging and an extensive zoom. It also has two controllers; one for the pilot and one for the observer to control the cameras.

With an operational range of 4.4 miles, and an ability to fly for up to 35 minutes, the UAS is ideal for law enforcement agencies. According to Moore County Sheriff Neil Godfrey, the UAS will be a “mission-specific tool,” but there is no shortage of potential missions that the UAS could be used for.

“The primary use remains search and rescue operations but may be employed in other capacities such as searching for a suspect, crime scene photography and documenting natural or man-made disasters,” Godfrey explains.

“We are a customer-service-oriented organization and this UAV is another tool to help us to better accomplish our mission.”

Just a few weeks ago, North Carolina enacted revised UAS laws, which loosen the restrictions on the use of UAS in emergency management. The law allows emergency management agencies to use UAS for all activities related to emergency management.

The law also removes the restriction on the use of special imaging technology. Previously, using technologies such as thermal and infrared was only permitted for scientific purposes, but the removal of the restriction now allows law enforcement to use the technology for emergency management missions such as search and rescue operations.