LIMA, OH—The Allen County Sheriff’s Office debuted its new mobile drone operations center Thursday, built into a 2025 Ford Transit 250 AWD van.

Ryan Saunders, the sheriff’s office’s fleet manager, the van was bought completely bare and was gradually outfitted to accommodate the drone and officers. Now the van has a generator and a power inverter, air conditioning, heat and a computer connected to the drone.

The center also comes with swivel chairs and a table with a booth.

“Before, only one person could see the drone footage, and now we can have multiple officers from a different location looking at the drone footage,” Sheriff Matthew Treglia said.

The van was purchased last year using a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas grant from the FBI, Treglia said. After purchasing the van, the sheriff’s office worked with the companies Whelen and PARR to install police lights and the computer.

According to PARR, the Allen County mobile drone operations center was modeled after a similar center built for the Columbus Police Department.

“The first place we plan on using this center for is the Allen County Fair, if nothing comes up before then,” Treglia said.

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