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Mount Vernon Police describe drones used inside homes, for mapping, and as a possible "first responder"
Summary
Detective Wayne Jones described small interior drones for scouting and negotiator communications, larger outdoor drones for scene overview and mapping (including a Hawthorne cemetery mapping), and a potential automated CAD dispatch to launch 'first responder' drones to 9‑1‑1 calls.
Detective Wayne Jones described multiple drone platforms the Mount Vernon Police Department uses for tactical operations, investigations, and scene mapping.
Jones explained small interior drones provide first‑person video and lighting to scout residences, relay information to tactical team leaders, and give negotiators time for de‑escalation: "This one can go inside residence... we have some lights on the side, that we can illuminate, our area." He said one interior model supports a cell‑phone connection so negotiators can place calls through the device and maintain communication.
Jones recounted a battery‑related crash while assisting the Skagit County Sheriff's Office but said the drone's thermal imaging still helped clear most areas and guided the tactical team's search. On mapping, he said the department has flown a pattern over a site "at Hawthorne" and used roughly 500 photographs with GPS metadata to produce a 3‑D diagram for investigations and court presentations.
On outdoor operations, Jones described larger drones used for area overwatch and suggested that early‑arrival drone imagery could be integrated with CAD to dispatch a drone automatically as part of some 9‑1‑1 responses, allowing officers to view scenes before arriving.
