RP
You really have no idea, do you.
Yes, air support may be 'wasted' - please define wasted, by the way - in 75% of tasks, (please quote the unbiased source for this figure), but that is with hindsight. It's only by deploying to these jobs and investigating from a safe distance, do we know if it is a crap job or something that is worth the cost and then some.
Drones for mispers! Are you having a laugh? Would you be happy to take the kit out the back of your patrol car, lug it across the fields for a couple of miles to start the search from the last known position?
How would you cover the 15 mile route of the search quickly? Running behind it with the remote controller around your neck?
Is there a commercial drone available that can do TI searches?
Can you photo a half mile of relevant road for an RTA fatal inquiry with a camera on a stick? Not unless your stick can extend to 500'.