Kent County officials outline real‑time intelligence center, drone integration for faster responses

Kent County law‑enforcement leaders on Nov. 10 briefed the Walker City Commission on plans for a countywide real‑time intelligence center that would consolidate disparate camera and sensor feeds — including schools, municipal systems and willing commercial partners — into a single platform to speed emergency response and investigations.

"This is a program that takes a lot of existing, disparate technology and consolidates it into a single pane of glass," Captain Roone of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office told the commission. He said the system, running on a platform the presenters identified as FUSIS, is being offered at little to no cost to participating schools or businesses because grant and philanthropic funding cover most expenses.

Roone and colleagues said the system is governed by memoranda of understanding and federal privacy rules: "This is all governed by a very strict MOU, and FERPA laws," Roone said, stressing that access will be emergency‑only and that the system maintains an audit trail of every action. "The audit trail actually records every single click inside the system," he added.

The presenters described practical features they said improve response times and officer safety. Sergeant Ryan Dannenberg demonstrated an integrated drone dock (Skydio x10) that can be launched remotely and feed live video into the same platform. Dannenberg said the county has obtained an FAA waiver allowing flights "200 feet beyond visual line of sight," and that drone feeds and annotated street‑level maps help officers locate addresses and suspects more precisely.

Presenters cited national examples and early data they said support the approach. Roone referenced studies and local after‑action recommendations, and said pilots elsewhere have shown measurable benefits: he said San Francisco received a $9,000,000 philanthropic investment and reported decreases in auto theft and overall crime in early implementation; he also cited Miami data showing higher chances of arrest when crime‑center resources assisted investigations.

Commissioners pressed on data retention and evidentiary procedures. "Is that just as you're reviewing clips, or if you find something that could be considered evidence, do you have the ability to retain that and turn that into longer‑term evidence?" Commissioner Gilbert asked. Roone and Dannenberg said core device retention is typically 1–3 days, stored locally on a small device; if footage is relevant to a case, staff can clip it and upload it to the department's digital evidence manager (Evidence.com through Axon), where the clip follows the agency's normal FOIA and retention schedules.

The presenters said credentialing would be limited to local agencies for routine access; state and federal entities would cooperate on investigations "upon request" rather than being routinely credentialed.

The sheriff’s office invited commissioners and staff to open houses and demonstrations at the intelligence center and offered the software for local chiefs to review remotely. No formal action was taken; presenters said the program remains a county initiative that Walker can join as a partner.

What’s next: the sheriff’s office will host demonstrations and open houses; interested Walker officials and staff were invited to tour the center and review the software.

Attribution: Captain Roone (Kent County Sheriff’s Office); Sergeant Ryan Dannenberg (Kent County Sheriff’s Office); Chief Mancoll (introduced the presentation).