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Mansfield to test autonomous drones for faster eyes‑on response to priority calls
Summary
Police and fire staff described a grant‑funded pilot to deploy three autonomous drones across the city to provide near‑immediate visual response to priority calls, with dispatch‑to‑drone dispatch taking about a minute and an expected two‑minute arrival window in many parts of the city.
The Mansfield Police and Fire departments briefed the City Council on July 14 about a grant‑funded autonomous drone program under evaluation that staff said could give first responders ‘eyes on’ incidents faster than traditional units.
The chief said the pilot would place multiple drones around the city (staff suggested three in different zones) and use GPS and dispatch integration so a call taker dispatches the drone when the incident is entered. “It takes them about a minute to process that call…as soon as they hit enter to send it to dispatch, the drone is dispatched immediately,” the chief said, describing a system that would hover and transmit real‑time footage back to dispatchers and responders.
Staff estimated that the system could deliver a drone to many locations in about two minutes and said the program is intended for priority‑1 calls to provide rapid situational awareness, improve scene safety and allow dispatch and responding units to tailor their response. The chief said other cities have adopted similar systems and that the technology will continue to improve.
Council members asked about range and siting; staff said the test will help determine whether fewer or more stations are required to cover the entire city. Staff also addressed questions about grant availability for EV chargers tied to related capital planning and explained that existing conduit is in place at certain facilities but that public‑facing charger locations are often required to qualify for many grants.
The council asked staff to continue the evaluation; staff did not present a final procurement action during the meeting.
