PRATT, Kan. — A recent media story indicated that the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management had spent $75,000 on a robot and drone system.

Pratt County Sheriff James White says the story is incorrect and wants to make sure that the public knows they priced several options and declined them because of cost. However, he says they were able to purchase a robot system. The company also provided a drone package at no extra cost.

The sheriff’s office was able to purchase a Transcend Tactical Robot with extra systems for use by the sheriff’s office, police and fire departments, EMS and Emergency management in emergency events for $22,500. The company provided a DSLR Mavic 2 Dual Drone for no extra cost.

The drone system is valued at $4,000. Emergency Services has been asking for a drone system. The system is especially needed since the county has experienced so much flooding in the last year.

The drone has a thermal and regular camera for search and rescue. The robot is a tracked system with an FLIR pan tilt zoom camera and thermal imaging for operations.