LPRC - CrimeScience – The Weekly Review – Episode 245 Ft. Beau Nutter (LPRC)

Episode Date: August 6, 2026

This week, LPRC CrimeScience Podcast Host Tiffany Frison speaks with LPRC Research Scientist Beau Nutter as they preview the LPRC Aerial Overwatch Drone Summit. They discuss what attendees can expect from the event, including key topics, emerging drone technologies, real-world applications, and opportunities to connect with leaders shaping the future of aerial overwatch. Listen in to this informative podcast for everything you need to know about this amazing event coming up on September 30th – October 1st.

Hi everyone and welcome to crime science. In this podcast, we explore the science of crime and the practical application of this science for loss prevention and asset protection practitioners as well as other professionals. All right. Hello everyone and welcome to this week's crime science podcast at the LPRC. I'm your host, Tiffany Fryson, and this week we are here with Bo Nutter, one of of the research scientists on the team. And today is actually a special episode. We're going to be talking about the Ariel Overwatch Drone Summit. So welcome everybody.

Welcome, Bo. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So to start off, for those who may not know or haven't heard yet, what is this event? Where is this happening? And when is this summit? So this event is going to be our aerial Overwatch drone summit. It's going to take place at the University of Florida's football stadium, so at the swamp.

And this will really just be a place for drone companies as well as law enforcement and retail, and anybody else who's invited to it, to attend and sort of see what technology is out there and what new and upcoming tech is in the drone world. Awesome. And can we talk about who's hope? hosting it as well. I know obviously we are, but we have a couple partners in this event as well. Yeah, so it's mainly hosted by us and then alongside we'll be University of Florida and then UFPD as they're all sort of involved in the creation of this event. Awesome. And then can we kind of just talk about an overview of the event like kind of what will be happening?

and we'll get into like a little bit more on the topics in a little bit, but just like an overall of what this event will be. Of course. So what it will be is first we'll have a one-day reception, and this will be taking place on September 30th. So this day before reception is just going to be a time where if there is a drone company that's going to be involved, they're able to first come in, kind of set up, test their drones,

fly them around, make sure everything's working, and then later in the day we'll have check-in for all of the actual attendees. So this is where we're going to check in, have everybody gathered in one spot that evening before, kind of just like a networking and social gathering. And then the plan also is to have a demo happening at this time. So the idea is that we will have a drone company showing off their technology during this reception for everybody to see before the main day event. So then the next day, which will be October 1st, that's going to be the main summit day. So this is where we'll have starting at 7.30 in the morning.

You get there, you check in, and we'll have a breakfast for everybody that's involved. And this is going to be where you have time to also be social network, have a breakfast on us, and then see some of these stands that are set up. So the plan is to have a room where we're going to have some of these drone companies. these solution partners of ours, set up tables where they're going to have static displays or anything else they want to bring and show off or talk about with some of the attendees. So you can go up to these tables, you can ask questions about their company, about their drones, what sort of tech they do, when they're able to use it, anything along those lines.

So really just getting that hands-on experience with these companies and learning sort of what they're doing and how they could be of use to you. So that's the plan during this first beginning hour. And then we'll have little opening remarks and then we'll start getting into the main stuff with the day, which will be the sessions that we're going to have. So the plan is to have four sessions. They're each going to be one hour long and then they're going to be followed by a demo. So the first session here is going to be DFR, which is going to be drone first responders, where the plan is to have specific speakers and practitioners, people that are already out using these drones and. and play some role in DFR already, talking about their usage of the drone,

and then as well having companies that make these drones sitting on a panel talking about what their drone is capable of in DFR situations, drone and source responder. So this, for people that don't know what DFR is or drone source responder, I was going to ask. This is where, let's say, an event takes place, and you're going to send a unit out there anyways, whether it's police, fire, EMS,

you're able to send a drone first to give sort of a to prep everybody else is getting involved. So you can give that first sight of what's actually taking place, what actually happened, and you can see it all with a drone. So then you can better inform any of the first responders what's going on where you need to go. So that would be a DFR situation. I understand. I was going to ask. So that's great.

Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. All right. So after that first session, which is DFR, there's going to be a demo. And this demo is also going to show off the FR capabilities. So the idea is talk about it first, show it off second. So we'll go from the main room that we have, the Gator Room, which is where there's going to be that first session, followed by the demo, which is going to be taking place on the actual field. So we will walk out from that first room, walk right down to the football field, and have a company showing off what their drone is able to do in a DFR situation.

So continuing with the schedule after that, we'll just have another little break, and then that'll be followed by the second session. And the second session of the day is going to be retail crime blitz or other special event drone response. So this is going to be talking about how drones can be used in a retail crime blitz or other special events that drones could be used in. This isn't necessarily only special events. This can also be situations like when does a SWAT team? employee drone. So if they're going to be going into a house that somebody might be barricaded inside of, a lot of times they'll send the drone first because they don't want to just walk into the house to see where the individual is inside of the house or

to get any sort of information about the inside of the house. Right. So that's a use case of drones in the situation. So here again, same thing. The idea is have an actual practitioner, a user of these drones talking about how they're using these drones in a retail crime blitz or any other sort of special event drone response situations. And then we'll follow that with another demo block where we're going to have another drone company showing off how their drones can be used, how they can be flown around inside, how they can be used in a retail crime blitz situation, things along those lines. I don't have the specifics for how their demos are.

They're planning those obviously. But they will be tailored to the preceding session. following that we'll just have a lunch break and then we'll have our third session of the day third session of the day is going to be our counter drone operations session this is going to be all talk about how to counter drones so there's not just using drones for ourselves there are people out there that are also using drones for potentially harmful ways or ways that can impact you negatively so there's going to be some there are people out there, other practitioners talking about, and other experts in the field,

talking about how they're countering drones or any technology out there that is able to counter drones. And so again, followed by a demo where we'll have a company go out there and show their technology, how they're able to counter drones that can fly up in the air and they can take it over or they can jam them, they can take them down, things like that. We have a company lined up to show off what they're capable of for that. And then finally, our fourth session of the day will be retail drone usage. So this will be a speaker that is from a retail organization talking about how he not only uses his drones for security purposes in a retail setting, but also delivery or in-house usage where

they're checking inventory, things along those lines. So all ways that drones can be used in a commercial setting or retail setting as opposed to law enforcement, which has kind of been the main focus so far. And then we'll have a short little talk about legal and policy discussions as that's ever changing with drones. And I know in the next few months are even more changing as new laws and policies are coming out about drone usage. And finally, we will have closing remarks. So that will be sort of the entire day right there, the entire two days, I mean. Awesome.

Yeah, sounds jam-packed. It's a lot to put into two days, but we think we can do it. Awesome. Yeah, this sounds like an incredible agenda and a lot of valuable things going on on these two days. So do we know, so I know there probably will be several law enforcement partners there, But is there any certain other parties that this event is kind of geared towards that you guys have talked about or anything like that? So the goal is to have it geared towards everybody. Okay.

So yes, there's going to be a large amount of law enforcement that will be in attendance at this event. But we also want it to be a place where retailers are also going to be able to get information about it. That's why we have this specific session, only about. retail usage for drones. Okay. So the idea here is mostly law enforcement in attendance, maybe half law enforcement attendance, and then the rest will be slip between retail and then those solution partners that are coming to show off their technology.

Gotcha. Okay. Perfect. So we really want it cater to everybody. Yeah. Awesome. And then I know you did touch on a little bit of the speakers that. We'll have, do we have any of those established at this point?

Or can we talk about them? If not, that's okay. Yes, we have speakers, and I'm sure I can talk about this. It's not secret or anything. So, first off, for drone as first responders, we're going to have two speakers. They're going to be Sergeant Juan de Castro from Gainesville Police Department. Okay. And then Lieutenant Brian Donahue from OPD.

Okay. Those will be our two DFR speakers for our. retail crime blitz speakers we're going to have also from OPD Sergeant Gustavo Guncalves and then from Campbell Police Department in California we will have Captain Ian White who has a lot of knowledge about drone usage in that aspect as they have much more they have much more I guess easily that's what I'm looking for it's it's easier to use a drone over in California a lot less law and policy putting in place that limits what you're allowed to do. It's difficult in Florida, but in California,

where you're in White's from, there's a lot more use case. So he has lots of information about that, a lot of knowledge, one of the best experts in that field. So then for our third session, for the counter drone, we're going to have John Rouse and John True from University of Florida, both experts in counter drone. And then from FHP, we're going to have Sergeant Robert Dooley, who is probably one of, if not the most knowledgeable people in counter drone operations. Oh, wow. Yes, he's one of the only people to go through the FBI's course on the counter drone operation, so he's very skilled in that area.

Awesome. And then finally, for our retail drone, we're going to have Jason Wilbur from Walmart and possibly some other attendees also from Walmart to talk about their drone usage. Okay. But I'm not entirely sure if those would be at this point. Also, all of these are just, they're agreed speakers, but there is the chance that we will gain or lose speakers as we get closer. More than likely we will gain speakers. Gotcha.

Awesome. No, that's great. They sound like very capable to speak on these topics. We definitely try to be some of the most knowledgeable people that we can. Yeah, wonderful. All right. Well, I think we're kind of coming to the end here, but I do want to give people some information about kind of what to do if they're interested here. So I know for registration, I think there's a link out there for most people.

And I think we'll note too that we have a limited amount of seats or the registration is limited. So if you're interested, reach out earlier rather than later. But I did want to note, so retailers in law enforcement, the link is sufficient to register. And then any solution partners who are interested, they reach out to you. Is that correct? Yes, especially if they want to have some sort of sponsorship or fly a drone. Definitely reach out to me. We can talk about that.

Okay, perfect. And then is there anything else that we didn't go? I feel like we were pretty extensive here in our little overview of the drone summit that's coming up. Is there anything else that you want to note? I think we covered it all. Okay. Awesome. And I did want to give everyone a list of hotels just in case we're looking.

So again, this event is in Gainesville, Florida, where we are here at the LPR. see. So some hotels, and I think we'll pass along this information via text if you need it, but I'll just go ahead and list them off. The AC Hotel in downtown Gainesville, a loft by Marriott in Gainesville, the Hilton at the University of Florida, Hampton Innensweets in Gainesville. It's also downtown. And then Holiday Inn on university. Center. So those are some hotels if you're looking for them. And then just to recap once more, so this is the aerial Overwatch drone summit. It will be Wednesday, September 30th to Thursday, October 1st this year. And then more info. People can email you potentially.

And then be on the lookout, perhaps on our LinkedIn for. for more information as well. But I think that's all I have to say here today. Thank you, Bo, for coming on here and giving us this overview of events. This is the first time that we've done this and I think it's gone very well. So thank you so much, Bo.

Thank you. Thank you to all of our listeners. I've been your host, Tiffany Friesen, and we'll see you next time on our crime science podcast. Thanks for listening to the Crime Science Podcast, presented by the Loss Prevention Research Council. If you enjoyed today's episode, you can find more crime science episodes and valuable information at LPRsearch.org. The content provided in the Crime Science Podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal, financial, or other advice. Views expressed by guests of the Crime Science podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion. or positions of the Loss Prevention Research Council.