Officers with the Boise Police have a widespread arsenal of drones that help them pursue suspects and keep the community safe. With a total of 11 drones in the fleet, the department plans to expand its use of the tools."Say an individual's home is being burglarized, we'll put a drone up to be able to watch the exits and entries into the home and see if that suspect is trying to flee before officers get there," says Lieutenant Russel Mengel, who oversees the department's drone program.Their fleet of varying-sized drones can be used for anything from thermal cameras to locating armed and barricaded suspects."Operators are able to maneuver that thing through small spaces and give us a visual of where our suspect may be hiding. That saves officers from having to go in and have a potentially armed conflict with an individual," says Mengel.He says using drones is much more cost-effective than other options like flying helicopters or planes, and they allow police to communicate with suspects while officers stay a safe distance away."If someone flees from an officer, we're able to hold back, set containment on the location, get the drone up, use the technology to direct officers safely to the individual, but also contact the individual and give them verbal commands, saying, 'Hey, we see you, the gig is up, come on out'," explained Mengel.They also work with fire departments to announce wildfire evacuations to the public over speakers attached to the drones or pass along information on structure fires."I think every major structure fire we've had over the last year, we've had a UAS on site," says Mengel.Things like first aid kits or water can be dropped from the drones to help injured hikers. But Mengel says their use is strictly limited to public safety or active criminal situations."We don't spy on people," says Mengel. "These drones just aren't up, just flying around randomly or checking out a neighborhood to see what people might be doing. It's usually in response to a call for service."