Dallas police launch drone program that can respond to 911 calls in minutes
Dallas is taking a giant leap into the future of law enforcement, as drones will start responding to some police calls in the city.
The Dallas Police Department offered a live demonstration on Wednesday of how its Drone First Responder Program will work and when it will be used.
Drones that can respond to 911 calls in as little as 2 minutes are now a major part of Dallas PD's arsenal of crime-fighting weapons.
"It's really going to be a game changer for us," said Assistant Chief Mark Villarreal.
Launchable from eight docking stations spread out across the city, DPD's Drone First Responder Program will soon begin answering calls such as those involving suspicious people and packages, as well as random gunfire.
Calls can free up patrol officers for those that are more urgent or require human interaction.
"Say we have a call with the missing child in the woods," said Dallas Police Sgt. Yancy Graces. "Just trying to get on site within two minutes with thermal cameras, and we will be able to spot anything in the woods."
A waiver from the FAA allows DPD to operate its drones out of sight from the pilot controllers up to 2 miles away and fly at an altitude of up to 200 feet.
The department insists that the cameras on the drones will only record video if the investigation involves a life or death situation, a felony crime, an outstanding warrant or if consent is given. DPD also said each drone is equipped with a thermal camera to help during nighttime operations, as well as a loudspeaker to make announcements to individuals on the ground.
"Our hope in this is what I said, to reduce response times and effectively clear calls without having ground units respond to those calls."
Right now, the drones can fly up to around 40 miles per hour and have a battery life of 45 minutes. But it's the precious minutes the drones will hopefully free up for patrol officers on the ground that have DPD excited about its potential impact on public safety.
DPD Chief Daniel Comeaux said Dallas Fire-Rescue will also use the Drone as First Responder program and training for pilots is underway. Under the new program, when a structure fire is reported, a drone will be dispatched to the scene. DPD said this real-time aerial perspective will allow incident command to assess the size, scope and intensity of a fire before firefighters even step off the apparatus.
"Dallas Fire-Rescue is proud to collaborate with DPD on any initiative that will make our city safer," said Justin Ball, the Chief of Dallas Fire-Rescue. "By strategically docking the drones at our fire stations in high-demand areas, we are optimizing our response times and ensuring our tactics are more precise, while adding an extra layer of protection for the city."
