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Council approves expansion of police drone first‑responder program using Flock Safety units
Summary
The City Council authorized expansion of a Drone First Responder program using automated docking stations and networked drones to provide rapid overhead intelligence for police calls.
The City Council approved a program to expand Drone First Responder (DFR) coverage across the city by deploying networked, remotely‑operated drones at multiple locations and staffing a full‑time pilot in the police operations center.
Chief Young introduced a video showing how drone first responders provide overhead views and live intelligence on emergency calls. “Our ability to get overhead in 45 seconds and start giving real time intel is remarkable,” the chief said. Lieutenant Gary Griffiths, commander for the DFR program, described the second‑generation approach that removes the requirement for a visual observer at each launch site by relying on radar and ADS‑B plane‑transponder detection. Under the new model, stations with automated docks can host drones that a single pilot in the operations center can deploy to any box for faster citywide coverage.
Griffiths said the department negotiated with vendors and selected Flock Safety because it offered a robotic battery‑swap station that reduces downtime to about two minutes and because the vendor’s approach was the most cost‑effective. He said the city would deploy three locations to provide broad coverage and that the program would be the first in Riverside County to use the automated dock design.
Griffiths and the chief emphasized transparency and controls: they said DFR operations would be driven by written policy, logs would be created and made available under public‑record rules, and use would follow FAA authorizations. The council debated policy safeguards and asked questions about battery swaps and flight autonomy; Griffiths said the robotically swapped batteries reduce downtime to about two minutes and the program relies on FAA‑approved safety systems.
No public speaker pulled the item from consent; the council moved the item, received a second and approved the DFR expansion 5‑0. City staff will proceed with vendor negotiation details and return with implementation steps and staffing for the full‑time pilot position.
