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Lakeway hears Brink Drones pitch for 27drone as first responder27; council presses on capabilities and staffing
Summary
Brink Drones demonstrated a drone-first-responder system to Lakeway council, highlighting fast eyes-on-scene, payload delivery (AED, Narcan), and a transparency dashboard; council members probed thermal imaging for lake rescues, battery life, pilot staffing and data retention. Chief described a plan to operate the system with existing staff reallocations.
Representatives of Brink Drones presented a drone-as-first-responder (DFR) system to the Lakeway City Council on Aug. 3, describing a network of prepositioned drones integrated with 911/CAD that Brink says can get eyes on scene in roughly a minute and clear a significant share of low-priority 911 calls without dispatching ground units. Connor Hearn (S12) introduced the company and Don Redmond (S9), Brink27s VP and a former police captain, who said the system combines camera payloads, life-saving payload delivery and a public transparency dashboard.
Redmond described operational examples from other cities and a policy emphasis on transparency: "Let's put red and blue lights on it," he said, explaining Brink27s markings, lights and a public dashboard that logs missions. Council members pressed on capabilities they said matter locally: S8 asked whether thermal sensors could help Lake Travis rescues (Redmond said thermal exists but effectiveness depends on water temperature and the time a person has been in the water). On operations, Redmond said nominal flight time is advertised at about 42 minutes and operationally closer to 30 minutes; drones use SD cards for onboard storage and upload to an AWS cloud for retention under the department27s policy. The city27s police chief (S13) said staffing would be a combination of dispatch and designated pilots and that the department would initially try to reprioritize existing personnel rather than add new full-time staff.
No procurement decision was made; council members and staff said the demonstration and technical answers would be part of the upcoming budget discussions. A public commenter, Robert Barnes (S10), praised the concept while noting cost as a likely consideration. Staff said warranty, pilot training and FAA compliance support would be included in any contract and that further details could be provided if the council directed staff to pursue the program in the budget cycle.
