Kiowa County Emergency Management has donated an unmanned arial vehicle (UAV) – commonly referred to as a drone - to the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office.

KCSO says the tool will bring new capabilities to county emergency services, and enhance safety for people in Kiowa County and KCSO and staff. Deputies often respond to time-critical incidents, such as missing persons, water rescues, natural disasters, fugitive apprehension, hazmat situations, accident reconstruction, and agency assists, in which the UAV can be used to collect critical information for a faster and safer response.

Other agencies in the area have UAV programs they use frequently, and KCSO believes the device will help reduce the response times for some incidents from hours to minutes.