MIAMI – The Miami Police Department held a drone training class Friday at Miami Marine Stadium.
"We want to make sure we're ahead of the game," Miami police Lt. Orlando Villaverde said.
Miami Marine Stadium moonlighted as an air park as officers from Davie, Hollywood, the city of Miami and Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties got trained and certified to use unmanned aerial systems.
"These officers and our department have taken the lead going forward, making sure our officers are now certified," Villaverde said.
Villaverde helped teach the federally and state-regulated course.
The lieutenant is a police helicopter pilot, himself, whose choppers seem to be getting much smaller and much cheaper.
"Most police departments have helicopter operations that excess over $1,000 an hour," Villaverde said. "The Department of Justice reports you can operate unmanned aerial systems at a fraction of the cost -- between $25 and $30 an hour."
Authorities said the crime-fighting potential could be priceless, helping them with surveillance and getting photographs.
"We can map crimes scenes with it, we can look for bad guys (and) we can look for lost people," Hollywood police Lt. Andres Astacio said. "(We can) search areas a lot faster, check for suspects on the roof, for evidence – so, there's a lot of application for this."
Astacio said his department hopes to put drones into use in the coming months, along with the rest of his band of police pilots.