To boost police response times, Huntington Beach looks to the skies
Drones will soon cut that time to two minutes or less.
The department is expected to launch its Drone as First Responder program on Sept. 13, officials said during a news conference and demonstration Tuesday at the Lake Street Fire Station.
Three Skydio X10 drones will be docked on rooftops at strategic locations around the city, including a location near the Bella Terra outdoor mall and one near City Hall, said police Lt. Chris Nesmith.
Nesmith, who manages the department's drone program, said each drone has a 2-mile radius. Eventually, the department hopes the whole city will be covered.
Drone as First Responder programs have been launching statewide. Large cities such as New York, Chicago and Oklahoma City have started similar programs.
'What we're going to be able to do for the officers on the ground is a huge thing,' Nesmith said. 'You have no idea what you're driving into. This is going to give you a bird's-eye view before you're even on the scene. The officers can watch on monitors while they're en route to the call [to see] what's happening at the call before they get there.'
The drones will be controlled remotely from the department's real-time crime center using an Xbox controller, said Det. Taylor Davoren, a Drone as First Responder pilot.
The department has 17 officers who will operate the drones, having passed the Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 commercial exam and completed specialized Beyond Visual Line of Sight certification.
'One of the biggest advantages of this program is how quickly we can get on scene to support investigations and prosecutions,' Davoren said. 'In most cases, suspect or vehicle descriptions are critical, but if it takes an officer five minutes to arrive, those details might be gone. With drones, we can often be there in under two minutes and start recording immediately, which will be extremely helpful for these investigations.
'That means we're capturing key details — who was there? How many people were there? What vehicles were they driving? — evidence that has been left behind. This not only helps in making arrests, but building stronger cases that can lead to successful prosecutions.'
The program is funded for multiple years for about $120,000 annually, Huntington Beach spokesman Corbin Carson said. That includes equipment, installation, training and ongoing support.
Nesmith said Huntington Beach police partnered with Skydio, an American company, due to a possible ban on Chinese drones. He also emphasized that the Drone as First Responder program is not a surveillance program.
'This isn't a 'Big Brother' program, this is a public safety law enforcement program that will be reactive only for calls for service,' he said.
The department has been using drone technology since 2018, but previously the drone would have to be taken to a site by an officer and set up.
Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns, a former pilot for the Long Beach Police Department, said he was enthusiastic about the program.
'Big perimeters take hours sometimes,' Burns said. 'If there's not an eye in the sky, if that helicopter with night vision is not available, sometimes those perimeters can be a nightmare demand on personnel and keeping that perimeter contained. With that eye in the sky, within minutes at times, you can nail that person. The perimeter is broken down and [officers] can go back to doing what they do, serving the people on the streets.'
Szabo writes for Times Community News.
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