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A Private Drone Helped Police Find a Stolen Rifle

They're good at finding people, they're good at finding guns.
Image: Flickr/Simon Jardine

If I've learned anything from watching The Wire, it's that, after committing a murder, you want to make sure your gun is good and submerged after you inevitably toss it in some body of water. I suppose the same goes for if you happen to go on a burglary spree.

Unfortunately for one alleged criminal in New York, he didn't hide the his weapons well enough: Local police in Jefferson County, New York called on a drone company to scan a body of water where they suspected five stolen rifles had been stashed. The drone found them, no problem.

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Indeed, 22-year-old Tyler Farmer was arrested on several counts of grand larceny, burglary, criminal mischief, and possession of a controlled substance—he allegedly stole at least five rifles, jewelry, medicine, and, oddly enough, a canoe.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's office said that Horizon Aerial Media Services, a drone photography business in the area, helped them recover some of the items.

"It's not that dramatic, but we got a call from the detectives—they said they thought a few of the firearms might be in the water, but they were having trouble searching it themselves," Jason Desjardins, the business owner, told me. "We searched, flew a couple feet above the water and when we looked at the video, you could the the reflections of something [that looked like a gun] beneath the surface. As vague as it sounded, it worked. That's where it was."

Desjardins says the police department didn't pay him for his work, but with drones often being villainized by police, and commercial drone companies working in a legal grey area, he says that he's happy to help with anything that might change that perception.

Lots of police departments are looking into drones, and some of them have already bought them. But, so far, drones have only been used to help make one arrest, back in 2011. Farmer was already in custody when Desjardins took his drone out, but wasn't charged until after the gun was found.

"He was already in custody, but they told me the evidence was key," Desjardins said.

The police department is now looking into getting its own drone.