A buzz was certainly in the air in Rifle on Saturday.

Using a control pad that resembles a handheld video game, Glenwood Springs Police Officer Logann Crawford performed a flying drone demonstration outside of Rifle Elks Lodge No. 2195.

The drone model, a DJI Matrice 30T, was acquired by the GSPD two years ago through a $20,000 Federal Lease District (FMLD) grant, Crawford said. It’s equipped with thermal imaging capabilities, two forward-facing cameras with 200-times digital zoom technology, as well as an attachable megaphone and spotlight.

---

---

“We’ve used this for lost children,” Crawford said. “We’ve looked for suspects that were on the run, with this.”

Amid gazing eyes from a small crowd of interested kids, parents and community members, Crawford engaged the device’s four rotors. When the seemingly sonic speed of the rotors hoisted the drone midair, it emitted an acute buzzing sound.

---

---

Crawford said the drone is capable of flying thousands of feet in the air but Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules restrict the drone to 400 feet. The drone is also capable of flying more than nine miles away from the drone’s ground operator, and its control can be exchanged by multiple operators while in midair.

“We’ve used it for city missions this spring, when all the mud was coming down the hills,” Crawford said, referring to the early May mudslides that took place at Red Mountain in Glenwood Springs. “The city asked us to put it up and take some video surveillance of that area for the engineers. They wanted to know how much mud was going to slope off, where it was going to go and where we needed to combat that.”

While Crawford controlled the drone in the air on Saturday, he used its forward-facing camera to zoom in on a street sign at Railroad Avenue. The street sign is about a half-mile away from the Elks Lodge.

Rifle City Council member Joe Carpenter was at Saturday’s demonstration — and he was impressed.

“I think we should get a whole fleet of them,” he said, referring to drones.

Becoming a drone operator requires training and certification, according to Crawford. Both himself and GSPD Detective A.J. Hand, who dubbed the department’s drone “Drone Force 1,” became drone-operator certified through the FAA.

But who’s the better operator?

“Me,” Crawford joked.

There are more emergency service drone operators in Garfield County. This includes operators in the Glenwood Springs Fire Department, which acquired drones through a $15,000 FMLD grant, and one at the Colorado River Fire Rescue District.

CRFR Chief Leif Sackett said Battalion Chief Tim Nix operates a drone for the district’s wildland fire division. The CRFR drone was acquired through a $6,157 Last Call Foundation grant.

“The capabilities are amazing,” Sackett said, adding that CRFR has had their drone for about 3-4 months now. “It enhances our ability to serve the public in everything that we do.”

The Rifle Police Department confirmed it too has a drone, and is training officers as operators. It implemented its drone program earlier this year.

Rifle Police Chief Debra Funston said as technology grows, drones are becoming a standard piece of equipment in many law enforcement organizations. Drone technology can be used for situations like disasters, perimeter checks, crime scene observation, search and rescue operations and more.

“We are nearing the completion of needed training and licensing and looking forward to utilizing the drone to assist in law enforcement operations and provide support to other departments and organizations,” Funston said.

Saturday’s demonstration was hosted by the Rifle Elks Lodge in honor of National First Responders Day, which celebrates “these extraordinarily brave women and men who put themselves in harm’s way to keep our Nation safe,” a White House proclamation states.

Elks Lodge member Yvonne Kile — Crawford’s mother — said the Lodge hosts events like these with the aim of raising funds for local emergency services. The Lodge raised $1,200 during a 2021 event, which helped the RPD acquire a K9.

This year, Kile was even more ambitious about fundraising.

“I’d like to do $2,000,” she said.

Fundraisers like these could also help more regional police departments acquire their very own drone. And for Crawford, having a drone is like having one of the best tools in the toolbox.

“This is very much worth every penny,” he said. “If we can find one lost child with it, it pays for itself.”