Liberty EMCE Department Partners With UAS Operations To Enhance Campus Safety

Liberty University’s Department of Emergency Management & Community Engagement (EMCE) has partnered with the School of Aeronautics’ Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations for over two years to provide enhanced campus safety measures. 

The drones are primarily used for large events such as football games, After Party, Block Party and Celebrate America, as well as certain Convocations where a speaker’s presence may require increased security. Currently, Associate Director of EMCE Chris Chambers and Director of Technology Innovations Kevin Martin meet bi-weekly to formulate plans to manage this year’s Commencement and other events with the assistance of drones. 

The partnership began when both UAS and EMCE saw the benefits in assisting each other. Brayden Johnson, the associate director of UAS, said partnering with EMCE has given them an opportunity to enhance their professional experience alongside their academics.  

“We are keeping professionals within their specific field … because EMCE are professionals in what they do and our folks are professionals in what we do in aviation,” Johnson said. “We’ve just been merging the partnerships.”  

Director of EMCE Jeff Hurtak said the drones provide the ability to make quick, crucial decisions in real time. The footage is projected to the TVs in the Emergency Operations Center through a streaming software, where multiple sets of eyes scan the live feed for potential threats. Whether it be directing an officer to a jammed traffic area, locating a missing person or notifying officers of a potential emergency incident, Hurtak said having an eye in the sky has been extremely beneficial.  

“We saw how drones were … such a huge tool for us to locate lost people, to have a good perimeter to protect our officers and the people in that environment … (Drones) give us that view that we can’t see at street level,” Hurtak said.  

Hurtak described one notable incident when the City of Salem Police Department reached out to Liberty’s EMCE regarding a missing suicidal person who may have headed toward Liberty Mountain. Hurtak called on UAS to provide visuals on the situation, which they were able to do within 10 minutes. Although the individual was ultimately found to still be in Salem, Virginia, Hurtak believed the incident provided the opportunity to see how efficient these partnerships would be in a real-life scenario. 

According to Johnson, the procedure of putting the drones into action is done in three steps. The process begins when Johnson or Martin receives a call requesting the drones’ assistance. Johnson or Martin will then assign members of the team to respond to the call, who will then pack the equipment they need: drones, batteries and a power network. Finally, the team will arrive on site, make sure all authorizations are in place and subsequently fly the drones.  

According to Hurtak, Liberty is one of the only universities that utilizes its students’ abilities to fly drones in cooperation with their emergency management team. He said multiple classes have been held at Liberty where outside agencies — such as the Department of Homeland Security and the emergency management departments of University of Virginia, Longwood University, James Madison University, Virginia Tech and the City of Charlottesville — came to learn better drone strategies for sports management, emergencies and crowd control. Hurtak said the outside agencies were impressed students were the individuals flying the drones rather than members of EMCE at Liberty. 

Johnson echoed the words he has heard repeatedly from Martin regarding the impact of drones.  

“The drones provide critical aerial situational awareness for both pre-planned and emergency relating events, serving as a force multiplier to increase flexibility and coordination for emergency response,” Johnson said.  

Anyone can fly drones on campus as long as they follow the required procedures. For more information, visit liberty.edu/aeronautics/uas-operations/. 

Sturek is the on-campus news editor for the Liberty Champion.