The Tewksbury Police Department added the drone unit (sUAS) to our list of specialized units in 2018, which continues to grow as the use of drones evolves within law enforcement. A small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) utilizes Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that weigh more than .55 pounds but less than 55 pounds and are operated within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulation (14 CFR) Part 107, FAA Certificate of Authorization(s) and applicable laws specifically governing the use of drones (sUAS).
The Tewksbury Police Department operates two different drones (sUAS) DJI Matrice 210 V1 and a DJI Mavic Enterprise Advanced. Both of our drones utilize FLIR technology cameras (used for thermal imaging).
The Tewksbury Police Department done unit is comprised of four officers and one unit commander who have completed and earned their FAA Part 107 Licenses.
All deployments/requests for use of the department drone (sUAS) must specifically be authorized by the OIC (Officer In Charge) or drone unit commander. The Tewksbury Police has adopted the use of drones (sUAS) to provide an aerial visual perspective in responding to emergency situations and exigent circumstances, and for a number of scenarios including but not limited to;