Police departments are all separate entities for different cities, countys, state and even quasi-state entities. They all have different sized budgets and priorities towards sUAS budgets. Our PD for our city currently only have
Mavic 2 Pros but have seen enough ROI to now plan a purchase for a Matrice 300 RTK.
The FD I work for in this city started with an Evo 1 and
Mavic 2 ED, but have added an Evo 2 Dual, and just received our Matrice 300 RTK last week. Other agencies in our area do not have programs is this is mostly due to the large investment needed to start a program.
For some agencies budgets may dictate no drone program or the use of low cost prosumer drones. When your drone program shows value and a ROI, this opens up the allotment of greater funds towards the program.
Unfortunately, budgetary issues make some agencies have to use aircraft that do not fit the criteria of the proposed mission. There are a lot of factors in the background about what drone an agency uses.
I do not think Mavics are useless. PD can use this when searching for a suspect so as to not place their personnel in danger. Over fences, around corners. The
Mavic 2 Pro makes a very nice 3D model or 2D orthomap to document crime scenes. Any drone makes a very nice aerial camera that can livestream back to a Command Post incidents for a larger picture of the scene. While thermal is a great tool for SAR, even thermal can have trouble finding people, especially dead people or in environments where the person is the same temperature as the ground.
For Fire a thermal sensor is preferred, but alot of uses above are the same. A constant 360 degree scene size up as the drone orbits the scene. Overwatch of rescue operations for safety. A simple $50 drop kit lets us drop a cell phone to a stranded person.
But yes, that lack of all weather performance is a limiting factor and that was a big reason we were able to justify the need for the Matrice 300 RTK. We did find prosumer drones to have pluses and minuses and our older less capable drones still have a home in our fleet and will continue to do so.