by April Scheinoha
Editor
The Thief River Falls Police Department recently received two pieces of equipment to aid its work. At the Thief River Falls City Council meeting Tuesday, June 17, Deputy Police Chief Mike Roff spoke about two drones recently granted to the department.
Greater Northwest EMS granted two drones to the department. One drone will be used for search and rescue incidents while the other will be used indoors during situations that would be too dangerous for officers.
To fulfill a statutory requirement, the department held a public comment period related to drones and drone usage at the council meeting. Minnesota statute governs how the police department may use drones. If surveillance were to be conducted with drones, the department would need to obtain a search warrant, similar to how it needs to obtain search warrants in other situations.
Five people – Roff, another police officer, a sheriff’s deputy and two dispatchers – are certified drone pilots.
Roff indicated that other law enforcement agencies previously used drones in high-risk people searches and during the search for fugitive Eric Reinbold.
The council approved hiring Sadie Anderson as a police officer, effective Wednesday, June 28. Anderson was previously employed as a corrections officer at the Pennington County Jail.
City Council approved a variance request for Nexus Church to build a 52-foot handicap-accessible ramp on the south side of its building. Kuznia Builders requested the five-foot variance on behalf of the church. The south side location is the only location where the ramp could be constructed due to the church’s design, its location along Highway 59 (Third Street) and its close proximity to the alley.
The next council meeting is scheduled Tuesday, July 1 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.