James E. Wickless

Background

Mr. James Wickless is currently Part 107 certified through the FAA as a remote pilot for small unmanned aircraft systems.  Starting as a cadet in 1994, Mr. Wickless was a member of the Baltimore County Police Department for 29 years including being certified as a Crash Reconstructionist in 1999.

Mr. Wickless began his career with the Baltimore County Police Department as a cadet and was assigned to the Western Traffic Unit.  The Western Traffic Unit, during that time, was the unit that investigated serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes.  After graduating from the police academy in 1996 and spending the required 2-year minimum in patrol, Mr. Wickless obtained the qualifications to be accepted as a member of the Western Traffic Unit where he investigated several serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes.  A restructuring of the Traffic Section in 2001 resulted in the formation of a centralized Crash Team for serious and fatal crashes and the adaptation of Traffic Units within each precinct of the department.  This caused a downsizing in personnel and Mr. Wickless was assigned to a precinct-level traffic unit investigating minor vehicle crashes.  Mr. Wickless maintained all required certifications as well as continued training and, in 2019, was granted a position in the Crash Team where he remained until his retirement in January of 2023. In his position with the Crash Team, he investigated serious and fatal motor vehicle collisions.

In 2018, Mr. Wickless was introduced to the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (drones) during a training that demonstrated their use as a tool for crash reconstruction.  Mr. Wickless began training and educating himself on the general operation of drones and received his FAA Part 107 Certification in 2021.  Mr. Wickless became a member of the FAA Safety Team in 2023.  Prior to his retirement, Mr. Wickless was part of the information-gathering process for the Baltimore County Police Department’s implementation of their drone program.

Mr. Wickless’ area of expertise includes the operations of small unmanned aircraft systems including preflight airspace authorizations and checks of the weather forecast, preflight aircraft safety checks, safe operations during flights, and the transfer of the data collected by the aircraft.  Mr. Wickless has had extensive training in crash reconstruction involving motor vehicles, motorcycles, and pedestrian/bicycles as well as training in event data recorder (EDR) data retrieval and analysis.

Mr. Wickless was certified through the National Highway Safety Administration and Baltimore County Police as an instructor and taught courses in the areas of crash investigations, RADAR/LIDAR, and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing.