Sky Ops – Drones carve out a role as newest Redondo Beach police tool
by Garth Meyer “Due west of the trash can.” On its infrared camera, a Redondo Beach Police drone picked up a heat source in the rocks along the pier Aug. 25 of last year. They were looking for a wounded shooter. Redondo Police Reserve Barry Brennan was the drone’s pilot. He already had to pull it away for new batteries – a six-minute round trip to the top of the former South Bay Hospital, where the drone was launched that evening, first sent out to watch over a domestic violence incident. It was diverted at the report of shots fired at the pier. Upon arrival, Brennan commanded the drone to check along the sand and amidst the pilings – under Tony’s, under Kincaid’s. No sign of the suspect, who police had shot minutes before as he stood near the rocks. Officers were unsure whether he was hit. “Three times I had to tell them, ‘I don’t see anything,’” Brennan said. While the RBPD stood back, an LAPD helicopter arrived to shine its spotlight from 500 feet up. Earlier, as Brennan kept watch of a drone monitor in the basement of the Redondo Beach Police station, his eyes darted to a bird flying across a corner of the screen. In the other corner, the suspect stumbled by on the rocks…
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