Eyes Over the Brush: How Texas DPS Uses UAS to Expand Public Safety Operations

August 18, 2026: In South Texas, unmanned aircraft have become part of the everyday toolkit for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

From crash reconstruction and large public events, to tactical overwatch and border security, DPS uses UAS across a wide range of missions. For operators in the Rio Grande Valley, the value is straightforward: get eyes on a situation quickly, stay overhead longer, and give ground teams information they may not otherwise have.

Lt. Eric Herrera, a 12-year DPS veteran and full-time drone operator, describes the capability simply.

“It’s your own personal helicopter,” he said.

That does not mean drones replace helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. Instead, they give operators another layer of aviation support that can deploy quickly, remain attached to a ground team, and provide persistent surveillance without the loud acoustic signature of a manned aircraft.

Sgt. Mike Wheeler, a 25-year DPS veteran who spent years flying helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft before moving into UAS, said a drone can be airborne within minutes of arriving on scene.

“If I’m responding to some traffic, I need some air support,” Wheeler said. “The fact that I have my equipment with me, in my unit … I get on station, and within five minutes, I can be providing some type of air support.”

That speed matters in a region where dense brush, darkness and distance can limit what officers can see from the ground.

DPS often uses smaller Group 1 drones for an initial look, then shifts to larger Group 2 aircraft when longer endurance and more capable sensors are needed. Wheeler compares the smaller systems to a “little bird,” useful for getting eyes on a developing situation quickly, while larger Group 2 aircraft can stay on station longer and carry more advanced capabilities.

Among the Group 2 systems DPS uses is PDW’s C100.

For Herrera, the C100 is primarily a nighttime platform. At the time of his interview, he had logged about 145 hours on his assigned aircraft. He said that was still relatively new by DPS standards, with some other unmanned aircraft in the department having accumulated hundreds of hours.

The aircraft’s role is less important as a standalone product than as part of a larger operating concept built around persistent awareness.

Herrera said DPS frequently uses Group 2 aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Operators can position over an area, use thermal imagery to scan terrain and maintain a visual as a situation develops.

Longer endurance reduces the gaps created by returning to land, changing batteries and flying back to the target area.

“We can maintain that overhead presence,” Herrera said. “You maintain that visual on target and we can maintain that situational awareness for our ground elements.”

That situational awareness is especially important during tactical operations. Herrera described supporting teams that arrive expecting one set of conditions and find another: an unexpected vehicle, people moving around a location, or a planned entry point that is blocked. A drone gives the team an opportunity to identify those changes before officers commit to the original plan.

For Wheeler, the same principle applies to nighttime operations in the brush. High-definition thermal imagery can help operators distinguish a person from an animal and, in some circumstances, identify whether someone may be carrying a weapon. That information can be passed to officers before they approach.

“The most important thing for me,” Wheeler said, “is that my brother or sister in the field makes it back home to their families.”

The environment adds another layer of difficulty. South Texas is hot, humid, dusty and windy, with coastal air creating corrosion concerns for both manned and unmanned aircraft. Wheeler said equipment has to be able to operate in those conditions consistently.

On his C100, Herrera said maintenance through roughly 145 flight hours had largely consisted of preventative work: cleaning dirt, checking for corrosion, cleaning lenses and sensors, and calibrating the compass.

At Texas DPS, the broader UAS program reflects how deeply drones have become integrated into the department’s operations.

Herrera said the department has more than 400 pilots and roughly 400 aircraft, making it one of the largest law-enforcement UAS programs in the United States. The program expanded as department leadership saw the value of the capability, and DPS continues to train new pilots.

Operators are FAA Part 107 certified and complete internal DPS training, including hands-on flight instruction and thermal operations.

Before capable UAS, Herrera said, some missions were heavily constrained by daylight and visibility. Before drones altogether, officers sometimes relied on a much simpler method.

“Man, we used to just lay in the brush,” he said.

Today, that same mission can begin with an aircraft pulled from the back of a vehicle and launched within minutes.

For Texas DPS, the C100 represents a broader evolution in public-safety aviation toward UAS built for sustained, operational use. The advantage is not simply having a drone available. DPS operators rely on capabilities such as longer endurance, thermal imaging, range and the ability to maintain an overhead presence as a situation develops.

That combination gives teams persistent situational awareness that smaller, shorter-endurance systems cannot always provide, helping operators maintain visibility, coordinate with officers on the ground and adapt as conditions change.

For DPS, the C100 fills that Group 2 role as part of a layered aviation capability that extends from smaller UAS to helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Not a replacement for a helicopter. Not a solution for every mission. But increasingly, part of how the work gets done.