Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
O'Fallon unveils drone-first-responder program and soft-launch of "Arctic" operations
Summary
Police announced that the city's real-time information center ("Arctic") is in soft launch and that a Drone First Responder (DFR) program using Flock drones will deploy across three city launch sites, aiming to get drones on-scene in about 90 seconds to improve situational awareness and officer safety.
O'Fallon police leaders told the council they have activated a soft launch of the city's real-time information center (referred to as "Arctic") and will deploy a Drone First Responder (DFR) program intended to provide near-immediate aerial support.
"With the new DFR program, they already can get a drone in the air and to an incident quicker than most of our resources, and usually and it is our plan that we'll do that within 90 seconds," Paul, a police presenter, said. The department reported a plan for three fixed drone launch locations plus a state-of-the-art radar system and additional mobile patrol drones to achieve full city coverage.
Presenters said the Arctic is operational in a soft-launch mode: consoles and dispatch integration are active, and construction of the Arctic facility is expected to start in December with vendor training in February and a ceremonial ribbon cutting in March. Police emphasized cross-agency partnerships and early operational successes where combined camera assets and drone overwatch helped locate suspects and an elderly person in need of rescue.
Council members asked about coverage and timing. Police responded that three locations, two drone garages at each site and integrated patrol drones, will meet coverage needs and that staff are finalizing exact garage sites; the presenters said they hope to provide those location details within the month to administration staff. The department described operational coordination with fire partners to share live aerial intelligence for structure fire response.
The presentation was informational; council members expressed support and asked for follow-up briefings on operational safeguards, privacy policies, and launch-site locations.
