COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Cochise County Sheriff's Office is testing what it calls innovative hybrid drones designed to enhance law enforcement capabilities along the southern border, despite federal reports showing decreased illegal border crossings.
Officials with Customs and Border Protection say encounters with illegal border crossers are down, but that's not what CCSO deputies say they are seeing on the ground in Cochise County.
"We're still reporting 250 to 300 illegal crossers a month, full head-to-toe camouflage, all military males, all coming across the hardest parts of our deserts. That's still an issue that we still have to go after," Tim Williams with Special Operations at the Cochise County Sheriff's Office said.
This ongoing challenge is why the sheriff's office partnered with Dragonfly, a drone technology company, to develop advanced surveillance equipment that can stay airborne longer than current models.
For the past year, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and Dragonfly have collaborated on three prototype drones that use both gasoline and batteries, allowing them to remain in the air for extended periods compared to traditional battery-only drones. One of the drones has a megaphone attached, allowing agencies to speak through it.
"Being able to do this work is exactly what we hoped we'd be able to do. But the fact that we're actually here doing it now seems pretty unreal," Cameron Shell, co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly, said.
The drones are said to serve dual purposes: criminal interdiction operations to catch people illegally crossing the border, and search-and-rescue missions. The larger drone model can carry up to 100 pounds of equipment.
"It gives us more opportunities, more tools, to be able to cover our county. Our county is ginormous," Williams said. “We have to start replacing some of our current fleet that we have. And this is definitely why we really got involved with dragonflies, developing the long-term quadcopter STYLE.”
The drones remain in the prototype phase, with an estimated cost of $150,000 per unit once production begins.
"The amount of interdictions that we'll have, the amount of lives that we'll save, it's inconsequential," Shell said.
The company says it hopes to bring the drones to market next year, potentially providing law enforcement agencies across the country with enhanced border security capabilities.
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office showcased these drones at the Cochise Border Summit, demonstrating the technology to sheriffs and public figures from across the country.
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
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