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GREENSBORO — Area law enforcement offices have logged more than 111 missions in the sky in the past year using a small, lightweight plane obtained last year through the U.S. Department of Justice.

It’s been used to search for missing people, locate drug fields and snap photos of undercover drug buys. Deputies have used it to fly over high-crime areas in the hopes of catching burglars in the act.

The air support unit of Guilford, Alamance, Davidson and Randolph counties is getting national recognition as other law enforcement agencies try to determine how to run aviation programs on tight budgets.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office obtained a 2006 model Sky Arrow 600 light-sport aircraft in March 2009 through a federal program.

It came after years of work, as the department looked at ways to obtain a fixed-wing plane on a fixed budget.

Officials chose a regional concept and got three other counties to share maintenance costs based on usage.

The plane is owned by the Small, Rural, Tribal and Border Regional Center, a Kentucky-based outreach of the National Institute of Justice, the research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Operation and maintenance costs are paid for by the sheriff’s offices through federal drug forfeiture money.

“The whole reason the program was started was to evaluate if these smaller aircraft could be used with agencies that couldn’t afford a helicopter,” said Darian Williams, a technology specialist for the regional center in Kentucky.

“They have proved it can be done and have set an example for other agencies.”

Williams said there is also a regional plane law enforcement program in rural eastern Kentucky.

He said the Triad program shows how the small plane can be used effectively in urban and rural areas.

“It’s not uncommon to receive three or four (flight) reports a week from Guilford County,” he said.

The cost to use the aircraft is about $55 an hour, compared to about $400 to $500 an hour other law enforcement agencies spend on a helicopter.

Of the $55, which is paid by the local department using it, $10 goes into a reserve fund for long-term maintenance costs such as an eventual engine replacement. The rest goes toward fuel and other maintenance costs.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has three pilots for missions; Randolph County has one. The pilots help other counties on their missions as needed.

“The plane has been useful in so many ways and we couldn’t afford it by ourselves,” said Sheriff Maynard Reid of Randolph County.

“It’s helped locate missing children, elderly people, large areas of dope being grown in the county and we’ve used it to track breaking-and-entering people who are kicking in doors while good folks are at work.”

Guilford County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Greg Russell, a pilot who did much of the research in obtaining the plane, has been invited to speak at the Airborne Law Enforcement Associations Conference in Tucson, Ariz., next week about how small planes can benefit other departments.

“Aviation units are a big target for financial cuts (at agencies nationwide),” Russell said.

“By sharing this information, this can open their eyes and give them other ideas about maintaining an aviation unit by reducing maintenance costs.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com