drones

South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski says intentionally damaging the department's new drone will bring federal legal trouble.

South Bend police say the drone will respond to select incidents and arrive on scene faster than officers, giving them critical information that will safe the department time and resources.

Officials with Flock Safety, the company selling South Bend Police a new Drone as First Responder program, say the drones can beat officers to the scene but they also can raise Fourth Amendment unreasonable search concerns if not used legally.

St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department Cpl. Bryce LaCosse says he's used drones for catching suspects, monitoring SWAT situations and reconstructing crash scenes, but this was his first time finding a missing person with a drone.