KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Braden saw Lee's Summit police's Facebook post and decided to follow-up on technology and resources used in the arrest. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
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A teenage suspect in Lee's Summit was arrested after a break-in at a convenience store near 1300 SW Market Street.
Officers were quickly pointed in the direction of the suspect using thermal drones, a K-9 team and Mother Nature.
When the officers arrived at the business after the security system went off, they found fresh footprints in the snow leading away from the damaged building. Using the thermal drone, Lee's Summit police were able to track the heat signatures left in the footprints through the snow-covered streets.
The drones can detect a temperature increase to the tenth of a degree, allowing them to get a picture of when and where something was.
"It was like following a trail of breadcrumbs," said Sergeant Chris Depue with the LSPD. "We traced it about five or six houses away from the store."
The thermal imaging technology was used as the footprints in the snow showed different temperatures.
"The thermal really shows him the freshness of those footprints, that there's still heat inside each of those footprints," Depue said.
Officers picked up the tracks, which led them to the back of the teenage suspect's home.
Officers said they spoke with the suspect's parents, who brought the teenager upstairs, and he confessed to the police. Police said the suspect also returned stolen vapes from the convenience store.
Drones weren't the only resource used.
The investigation also involved K-9 Roy, a Dutch Shepherd, who used his tracking abilities to confirm the footprints from the store matched those at the suspect's home.
"They love to have their dogs make successful tracks. So it made perfect sense to have the canine there that night," Depue said.
K-9 Roy is the department's ninth dog and serves as one of two on the current force.
The K-9 unit, paired with the department's roughly $6,000 drones, is often used on a variety of calls.
While this case involved tracking a suspect, Depue said the same technology is crucial for finding missing persons in dangerous weather conditions.
"It could have been an elderly person who walked away from a nursing facility, that's out in that cold. Time matters when it's four degrees. Frostbite sets in quickly. So, locating missing people, missing kids, missing adults, it all plays into what we use our drones for," he said.
Depue credited the officers who train with and operate the advanced equipment.
"There are human beings behind every bit of this technology that know how to operate, maintain it, and put it to good use," Depue said.
He said the technology has come a long way, remembering a time when it was a hard sell to department leaders.
"One more tool in our toolbox to identify suspects, identify patterns, whatever that is. But the thermal has changed the game, and now we fly 24 hours a day," Depue said.
Every shift in the department has access to these resources, allowing them to be called upon when needed.
The suspect from the burglary may face charges in juvenile court. The damaged window at the business was replaced, and the store was operational when KSHB 41 went by on Jan. 29.
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