Science Fiction has promised a lot of things over the years. Aside from the dystopian plot lines we would all hope would never come to reality, there are gadgets and doodads we can all recall from our childhood in which we hoped would become real. Here we are in the 21st century and we don’t have flying cars. (That may be a good thing.) Lightsabers, though from another galaxy “A long time ago,” never did make it into our hands. (As unforgiving one may be for someone who is accident prone, really doesn’t have a practical use for most people.) But, we can say Chester Gould got it right when he donned his Dick Tracy character with a phone watch back in 1931. We have that. (Some of our spouses, however, would love to take a lightsaber to our phones as some of us have grown too dependant on them.)
Technology has gifted us a few things over the years. Some of which we could not imagine. Though, the flying car is absent from our skies, we have remote controlled drones that are now helping law enforcement and emergency services in a very practical, very cool way.
Some of us are familiar with drones, but that technology is likely akin to the remote controlled planes and helicopters we’ve all had access over the past thirty years. The Albany County Sheriff’s Department, however, has a little something that’s a little more Buck Rogers, relatively speaking.
Our Jim Franco witnessed the technology first-hand, and though there are some who would instantly think of this new equipment as nothing more than just playthings, they’d be mistaken. Fresh out of the box our local law enforcement officers have developed logistics around these flying marvels to assist in reconstructing accident scenes. The cameras each are equipped with can track down perpetrators on the lam in the darkest of settings. They’ve even been in demand by local firefighters who could use the infrared cameras to detect hot spots behind closed doors and walls.
We are living in marvelous times, and though you may not have your hoverboard to skate around town, the practical uses of today’s tech continues to help save lives and protect our families.