State grant money adds to Southold drone fleet

Southold Town recently accepted $9,000 from the New York State Beachfront Drone Grant Program to pay for new equipment and train an operator. 

The program, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, will reimburse the town for costs involved in expanding its current fleet to three drones and training one or more additional officers in their operation. There are currently five certified drone pilots on the town police force, including Chief Steven Grattan. 

According to the town resolution accepting the grant, $6,000 will be spent on the equipment, $2,700 on related software and $300 on training. It will be used to monitor local waters, Chief Grattan said.

“It’s going to be a part of our drone fleet, but we will also utilize this drone in the event that somebody thinks they may have seen a shark in the waters off the Sound or something. We could deploy this drone to go survey the area,” he said.

The police department’s current fleet, according to its website, is “primarily used for search and rescue situations as well as capturing aerial footage of crash and crime scene investigations.” 

Sgt. Robert Haase, who has been involved in the department’s drone program since its inception in 2021, flagged the grant about a year ago and applied for it, the chief said. He added that, grants like these help the department keep its technology updated and noted this won’t be the last one purchased. 

“The technology of the drones is ever-changing, like everything else,” Chief Grattan said. “So the current drones that we have, they still work great. Over time, they will need to be replaced and this one is going to supplement the drones that we have, but we’re going to be looking to get an additional drone — with the law enforcement tech grant that we received — in the near future. I’m hoping, again, just to continue to keep up to date with the technology.”