The Leavenworth Police Department in Leavenworth, Kansas has purchased two UAS.

Equipped with video cameras but absent of infrared technology—that technology can be purchased, though—the UAS can be used for a variety of tasks, including providing aerial perspectives of large crime scenes or accident scenes, and helping search for children and disabled adults who have wandered off.

The UAS, which were purchased for a total of $4,467, can also be used for tactical purposes, Nicodemus says, as they can provide an additional set of eyes and vantage that officers otherwise would not have during tactical situations.

“They will be used in a variety of things,” says Maj. Dan Nicodemus, deputy chief of the Leavenworth Police Department, via the Leavenworth Times.

“We can put that thing up and cover more area in less time than you can on foot.”

In addition to purchasing the UAS, the Leavenworth Police Department also recently purchased a laser scanner. Video from the UAS can be integrated with data from the laser scanner, and the scanner can be used to create a 360-degree three-dimensional image of a scene.

“It takes millions of data points to be able to recreate an image of that particular scene,” Nicodemus says. He adds that the images created by the scanner are “more sophisticated that two-dimensional images captured by normal cameras.”

The laser scanner was purchased for a total of $44,517. According to Nicodemus, this price included the scanner equipment, software and training for people who will operate it.