SHORELINE, Wash. — Newly released drone videos from the Shoreline Police Department show the effectiveness this technology can have in keeping officers safe.
Shoreline Police Department officers say drone use is part of a new effort to keep officers safe in dangerous situations. Officer Omar Jackson with Shoreline PD says this tech is a game changer.
The drone video shows the moment a man jumped out of a hiding spot during a barricade situation inside a 7/11 on 5th Avenue NE and 165th Street, back on October 16. At the time of the call, Jackson said they were under the impression the man was armed. He said they took all precautions, assuming he had a weapon.
With little information about the man inside, almost every officer in Shoreline came to help.
Jackson said that typically when someone calls the police for a mental health-related situation, officers have spoken to that person before and know who they are, which helps when deciding how to approach a call. In this case, police say they didn’t know the man.
Shortly after the clerk and customers left the store, Jackson said the man turned off the store lights and hid.
By this time, the convenience store was surrounded by officer cruisers. Many of the officers were holding shields and protecting themselves by standing behind their cruiser doors.
“I think our response was heavier than it otherwise would’ve been because you don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Jackson said.
After about half an hour, police sent in a small drone outfitted with lights and a camera to find where the man was hiding.
“We were able to virtually clear the store to narrow down like ‘Okay, this is what we can’t see, this is where he must be,” Jackson said.
Jackson says the man was high on meth and got spooked by the drone, forcing him to leave the back room where he was hiding. Police say when he got outside he was blinded by the police lights, unable to move as police approached him to put cuffs on.
Jackson said the easy arrest was the best-case scenario as far as safety goes.
“It started out as a barricade, somebody armed, is this going to be a hostage thing, to just a guy who was extremely mentally ill,” Jackson said.
He said many King County Police Departments will likely use drones more in the future to keep everyone safe.
“Even if all we can use the drone for is another overhead view, that’s more accurate than Google Maps,” Jackson said. “That’s a vantage point we otherwise wouldn’t have.”