DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12
FEATURES 56 COVER STORY IACP OFFICER OF THE YEAR, OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY 68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE DEPARTMENTS 6 PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS 8 EDITOR’S THOUGHTS 12 GUEST COMMENTARY - BILL KING 14 NEWS AROUND THE US 46 HEALTH & AWARENESS 52 COP CAR NEWS 84 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 86 REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES 92 WAR STORIES 98 AFTERMATH 102 OPEN ROAD 108 CLASSIFIEDS 110 HEALING OUR HEROES 112 DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS 114 LIGHT BULB AWARD 116 RUNNING 4 HEROES 118 BLUE MENTAL HEALTH WITH DR. TINA JAECKLE 120 OFF DUTY WITH RUSTY BARRON 124 ADS BACK IN THE DAY 124 PARTING SHOTS 130 BUYERS GUIDE 150 NOW HIRING - L.E.O. POSITIONS OPEN IN TEXAS 202 BACK PAGE
FEATURES
56 COVER STORY
IACP OFFICER OF THE YEAR,
OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY
68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
DEPARTMENTS
6 PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS
8 EDITOR’S THOUGHTS
12 GUEST COMMENTARY - BILL KING
14 NEWS AROUND THE US
46 HEALTH & AWARENESS
52 COP CAR NEWS
84 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
86 REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES
92 WAR STORIES
98 AFTERMATH
102 OPEN ROAD
108 CLASSIFIEDS
110 HEALING OUR HEROES
112 DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS
114 LIGHT BULB AWARD
116 RUNNING 4 HEROES
118 BLUE MENTAL HEALTH WITH DR. TINA JAECKLE
120 OFF DUTY WITH RUSTY BARRON
124 ADS BACK IN THE DAY
124 PARTING SHOTS
130 BUYERS GUIDE
150 NOW HIRING - L.E.O. POSITIONS OPEN IN TEXAS
202 BACK PAGE
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AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />
HAMILTON CNTY, TN.<br />
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office unveils a drone command<br />
vehicle to support its drone team.<br />
By Ellen Gerst<br />
Chattanooga Times Free Press<br />
HAMILTON COUNTY, TN. — A new<br />
drone command van unveiled last<br />
month is set to help Hamilton County<br />
first responders streamline search<br />
and rescue missions, crime scene<br />
investigations and other operations.<br />
The vehicle is the first of its kind<br />
to be used by law enforcement in<br />
Tennessee, according to the Sheriff’s<br />
Office.<br />
Hamilton County has used drones<br />
since 2016, Sheriff Austin Garrett<br />
said. Eighteen pilots from the<br />
Sheriff’s Office and Hamilton County<br />
Emergency Management are now<br />
certified to fly them.<br />
So far this year, the county’s drone<br />
team has used the aircraft in around<br />
670 missions for a total of nearly<br />
500 miles flown, according to the<br />
Sheriff’s Office.<br />
The new van, an enhanced sprinter<br />
the Sheriff’s Office said cost the<br />
county $168,100, will be shared by<br />
deputies and emergency responders.<br />
It’s an update from the previous<br />
vehicle the office used for drone<br />
command, a 2001 work van that<br />
was modified in-house. The updated<br />
van will also be used to help<br />
respond to calls from other agencies<br />
in the area, Garrett said in an<br />
interview last week.<br />
“This is kind of seen as a toy by<br />
most people, but in this profession,<br />
there’s a lot of areas that we<br />
can’t get to on foot and in the right<br />
amount of time,” Garrett said.<br />
A 15-foot mast on the van’s roof<br />
boosts the command center’s connection<br />
to drones and extends the<br />
drones’ range, Capt. Mark Hooper<br />
said.<br />
Drones are most commonly used<br />
for search and rescue operations,<br />
or to find missing people, according<br />
to data from the Sheriff’s Office.<br />
Deputies also use them to locate<br />
suspects, map crime or accident<br />
scenes, and monitor large crowds<br />
at events including Riverbend and<br />
the annual Ironman race.<br />
“When you got a place that’s got<br />
10,000 people in it, and we get a<br />
report that somebody’s down on<br />
the other side, we can fly that, get<br />
exactly where it’s at and see, OK,<br />
what’s going on,” Garrett said. “It<br />
saves a lot of time.”<br />
He said the drones can also protect<br />
deputies from being harmed<br />
when going into a dangerous situation.<br />
The updated van provides first<br />
responders with a safe and warm<br />
place where they can operate<br />
drones and monitor live feeds in<br />
any weather. The system can also<br />
live stream drone footage for other<br />
responders to watch even if they<br />
aren’t on scene, Hooper said.<br />
In April 2020, the drones were<br />
used to assess damage from a<br />
tornado that moved through East<br />
Brainerd and other parts of Hamilton<br />
County. A few months later, the<br />
Sheriff’s Office said, deputies used<br />
drones to monitor protests against<br />
police brutality that brought thousands<br />
of people to the streets of<br />
Chattanooga.<br />
While most of the county’s drones<br />
are only equipped with cameras,<br />
some can also perform thermal<br />
imaging or drop small items like<br />
lifejackets to people in hard-toreach<br />
places.<br />
40 The BLUES The BLUES 41