CENTENNIAL — The Colorado Department of Public Safety has received a high level of interest in and speculation about the participation of the state Multi-Mission Aircraft in a joint operation on Monday in relation to reports of suspicious drone activity in northeast Colorado.

CDPS has offered its expertise and resources to assist federal and local agencies as they investigate the reports of suspicious drone activity.

Three members of the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Colorado Information Analysis Center attended a joint operation coordination meeting on Monday, and the CIAC has been actively monitoring information related to abnormal drone activity in Colorado.

In discussing additional ways CDPS could support our local and state partners, CDPS leaders decided to contribute one Multi-Mission Aircraft as a resource to coordinate the investigative ground resources involved in the one-night joint operation.

On Monday, the MMA flew for 4.8 hours in northeast Colorado, communicating with law enforcement vehicles on the ground.

As calls came in reporting potential suspicious drone activity, the MMA was prepared to identify which ground resource was closest to the sighting in order to deploy that vehicle in search of more information.

The aircraft typically flies 10,000 feet above ground level, well above drone operations.

The MMA has the capability to detect heat signatures; it did not detect any suspicious heat signatures or drones related to the drone reportings during its flight.

During the flight of the MMA, every report of a suspicious drone was investigated and was resolved, and none was substantiated. The MMA was not diverted from any other operational needs in order to serve this mission.

Press release for report courtesy of Micki Trost, Strategic Communications Specialist, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Contact information for Trost is 303-472-4087 by phone or [email protected] by email.