Trouble Locating Suspects
Hey everyone. Ill try and keep this as short as possible. I work for a FD in the suburban outskirts of Cincinnati. We fly M30T's and most of our callouts so far have been to assist PD in locating suspects who have fled. Typically this is a one man mission. In most cases, I am arriving 15-20 minutes after the suspect was last seen. Perimeters are always set and about 3/4 of a mile radius. Once on scene, my biggest priority was doing a quick sweep for any hotspots in the last direction of travel. Once I reach the perimeter, I come back and start doing more thorough searches.
My biggest question/gripe is that I am not finding these people. Out of about 15 callouts in the last year, I located 2. I know that's not terrible and I dont expect to find everyone but it just baffles me that these people are either escaping the perimeter or somehow hiding from thermal. Do you think this is a perimeter or drone operator issue? Do you guys have any routines, patterns, checklists, or simply tips that you have noticed increase your find-rate?
Anything would be helpful. Thanks and stay safe.
If it helps topography plays a role in fleeing suspects. Not sure if Ohio area has lots of hills, but we found that downhill is often the direction people flee. If doing a hasty search I'd start that way, of course if they have suspect info - they always want to go home as well.