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Duane Stokes of Tactical Electronic shows off the company's mini surveillance helicopter that can carry a TV camera and be operated by officers at an incident scene. The helicopter is made of carbon fiber and weighs just ounces. It operates on the hobby frequencies and can be easily flown at heights up to 400 feet. The basic system costs $40,000.
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SWAT officers check out new technology

Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

SWAT officers check out new technology

Vendors sell bulletproof vests, rifles at second annual gathering

It looks like a high-tech device suitable for waging war in Iraq or Afghanistan: a $40,000 "microdrone" that can hover over a target and beam images to an operator on the ground.

Tactical Electronics of Virginia Beach, Va., recently started selling the German-made, propeller-powered craft in the U.S. domestic market, and it was one of the hottest items on display yesterday during a gathering of the Pennsylvania Tactical Officers Association at PNC Park.

"This is much more advanced than your model aircraft," Duane Stokes, a company representative, said as SWAT officers from across the state perused the offerings of an all-day vendor show in the ballpark's Gunners lounge.

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Instead of hotdogs and beer, the salespeople peddled bulletproof vests, sniper scopes and a .50-caliber rifle that fires armor-piercing rounds and can hit a target a mile away.

The tactical officers association, created in 2005, is holding its second annual gathering at the stadium, which tonight will host a banquet dinner and award ceremony with a speech by a former Navy SEAL commander.

Today and tomorrow, about 200 police officers will have a chance to attend classes on sniper operations, the use of less-lethal munitions and a dozen other topics.

"It allows us to come together to network and to be able to trade ideas," said Officer Stephen Mescan, the association's president and a team leader with Pittsburgh's SWAT unit.

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It also gives companies that sell law enforcement equipment access to a captive, eager audience, and 29 vendors showed up for this year's conference.

Officer Mescan and Raymond DeMichiei, Pittsburgh's deputy director of emergency management, were intrigued by the "Autonomous Unmanned Micro Aerial Vehicle," or the md4-200.

Made entirely of carbon fiber and weighing only a few pounds, the microdrone has a circular body with four propeller arms. An internal global positioning system guides the craft, and battery power keeps it airborne for up to a half hour. It can carry cameras that record black and white, color or even thermal images.

If an operator identifies a target, the microdrone will focus on it from every angle while sweeping overhead. The operator uses a remote control and software that is installed on a standard laptop computer. Individual officers can wear wrist monitors displaying live images from the drone.

The starting price is $40,000, but add-ons can boost the cost to $60,000.

Mr. DeMichiei gave Mr. Stokes his business card, and he said the law enforcement agencies operating together under Western Pennsylvania's Region 13 Task Force may consider purchasing a unit using federal homeland security grant money.

Pittsburgh police recently bought a .50-caliber rifle, a weapon that can stop a tank and is catching on with U.S. law enforcement.

At first glance, the powerful rifle seems out of place in a police department, but Russ Fuellner, a retired sheriff's deputy and a sales representative for The Evans Group, counters that view with YouTube footage of a suicidal man who in 2004 went on a rampage in a homemade armored bulldozer, destroying several buildings in Granby, Colo., before shooting himself.

In such a situation, a tank killer can come in handy.

"It only takes one, and then you get $7 million in property damage," Mr. Fuellner said.



First Published: October 14, 2009, 8:00 a.m.

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Duane Stokes of Tactical Electronic shows off the company's mini surveillance helicopter that can carry a TV camera and be operated by officers at an incident scene. The helicopter is made of carbon fiber and weighs just ounces. It operates on the hobby frequencies and can be easily flown at heights up to 400 feet. The basic system costs $40,000.  (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette
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