Fairfax County’s Police Department says its drone program has been a big success. FCPD officials briefed the county on its “Drone as First Responder” program at a February 24 public safety meeting.
Assistant Police Chief Bob Blakely noted that FCPD has been operating a stand-alone drone program for several years. He said the department has expanded the initiative into “a whole public safety program.”
FCPD’s Hudson Bell reported that a drone was first on scene at 71 of the first 100 missions. The drones can fly at 35 mph and had an average response time of just 83 seconds. They can operate in a 2-mile radius from the docking station and stay in the air for about 25 minutes.
Bell presented two examples of drones providing officers with vital assistance. In one case, the drone was sent to a home where a man was threatening others with a baseball bat. “Thanks to the immediate response of the drone, police officers maintained the visual location of the man during the entire incident so officers could plan a safe and measured approach to take the man into custody without utilizing additional resources,” he said.
In another case, drones helped school staff members locate an autistic student who had left the school building. After drone footage showed where the student was hiding, officers were able to safely return the student to school.
In the next phase of the drone program, FCPS plans to expand to 17 additional locations. These areas were identified based on call volume and the number of traffic crashes.
During phase 3 of the program, FCPS plans to work with public safety and communications departments to use drones to decrease response times to 911 calls.
Feature image courtesy Fairfax County Police Department
