BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (WHDH) - Police and SWAT teams got some high-tech help as they worked to bring a hostage situation in Holbrook to a peaceful end on Monday.
On Monday morning, officers responded to a 10-unit apartment on Union Street to serve 31-year-old Noah Hennessey a warrant. However, Hennessey barricaded himself inside the building along with a woman, according to the Holbrook Police Department.
RELATED: Barricaded suspect taken into custody following hourslong standoff in Holbrook
Video from the standoff shows police using two drones to peek inside Hennessey’s home to get a better understanding of the situation. A short time later, about a half dozen SWAT officers, went up a fire truck ladder, to access a third-floor window and take him into custody.
“It’s that real-time information that is invaluable that oftentimes we don’t have the luxury of having when making critical decisions,” said Bridgewater Police Chief Delmonte.
Though Bridgewater police were not involved in that standoff, they are one of several Massachusetts agencies to adopt the use of drones. They gave 7NEWS a demonstration of the life-saving technology that is being used more and more in these tense situations.
They don’t just deliver critical intelligence, their cameras see far better at night than the naked eye and they can easily access remote areas.
Bridgewater police relied on their drone when two canoers went missing after dark in a thickly-wooded area.
“It would have taken us a very long time to find them and that assumes they didn’t have some medical problem in between,” said Delmonte.
Whether reconstructing crash scenes with a bird’s eye view or communicating with suspects from a safe distance, when it comes to drones police say, the sky’s the limit.
“It’s just a tremendous asset for us to have,” Delmonte said.
Bridgewater’s drone costs about $6,500 but, some of the larger and more sophisticated models other agencies use can cost upward of $30,000.
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