The Peoria Police Department said Tuesday it is experimenting with using its fleet of drones as first responders to certain calls as a way to improve response times and enhance public safety.
The Drone as a First Responder pilot program allows the department to use an aerial camera providing it with details on a situation before human officers arrive on scene. Peoria police Chief Brad Dixon said that the program was not intended to replace a human officer, only providing them with live video as they evaluate a situation.
“A Drone as First Responder is exactly what its name implies,” Dixon said in a statement. “When certain emergency calls are received by 911, a drone launches from a fixed location and flies directly to the scene, providing live video to responding officers and supervisors. It does not conduct random patrols, and it does not replace police officers. It only responds to dispatched calls for service.”
The drone program does have additional safeguards, such as not having facial recognition software and not being equipped with weapons. The department will regularly update the public on the program’s usage, promising to be transparent when it came to performance and operations.
Video taken by the drone program will only be kept as long as department policy and applicable law will allow.
Peoria police say that using the drones for this purpose could allow for more effective assessment of potential hazards, identification of suspects and victims, coordination of resources and even reduction of high-risk police tactics.
The department said that similar programs have led to success in other communities across the nation, with better emergency response and situational awareness while allowing them to resolve situations peacefully and keeping officers and the community safe.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How Peoria police are experimenting with drones as first responders
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
