Sheriff’s office captain earns association award
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office’s Capt. David Kelly, commander of the Executive Services Division, was named Deputy of the Year by the Maryland Sheriff’s Association in the category of Contributions to Profession during the MSA’s annual conference held last week, according to a sheriff’s office press release.
Kelly, who is also an FAA certified pilot, established the agency’s unmanned aerial system program, developed policies and coordinated training to get the program in compliance with FAA regulations. His research and work with drones has been so successful that agencies throughout the D.C. metropolitan region — to include police agencies, fire departments, emergency medical services and federal partners — have requested and received guidance from Kelly and his team, according to the press release.
“I am extremely proud of the work Captain Kelly put into this program to get it off the ground. This type of technology is critical in police work and has already helped us in a number of cases, especially when time is of the essence,” Sheriff Troy D. Berry (D) said in the release.
In 2016, Berry expressed his interest in establishing an unmanned aerial system program at the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, and he asked Kelly to lead the endeavor due to the experience he already had. Prior to this initiative, Kelly began flying a drone to document large scale crime scenes during his time as a supervisor in the Criminal Investigations Division and it quickly became evident the value of such technology.
Kelly has held a manned aircraft pilot’s license since 1996 which was instrumental in developing a structured program with safety as the top priority.
To create the required policies and procedures for the UAS program, Kelly worked with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Council of Governments and a consultant from Alaris. He also attended meetings and field tests to determine the best equipment in which to invest for a successful program, according to the release. Further, he secured a facility to safely store and maintain the equipment to ensure its mission readiness. He earned his FAA remote pilot’s license to fly UASs commercially in 2017. He interviewed and selected officers to be trained as licensed UAS operators and filled the program with competent pilots.
Since the establishment of the program, officers are available on a 24/7 callout basis and have been used for pre-raid surveillance, narcotic investigations, crime scene documentation, searches for fleeing suspects, search and rescue operations, barricade situations, fatal accident scenes, DUI checkpoints, large-scale events and to locate missing persons, according to the release.
“I am honored to have received this award from the Maryland Sheriff’s Association. The development of our UAS program has been a team effort and I have worked with so many people along the way to ensure we did things right and in the best manner possible to better serve our Agency and our community,” Kelly in the release.
In 2018, Kelly also earned the Sheriff’s Award from Berry for his dedication to duty and for establishing this program.