On the first anniversary of its Drone as First Responder (DFR) program, the Montgomery County Department of Police has reported notable milestones in improving emergency responses, highlighting the drones' fast arrival times, efficiency, and aid in critical law enforcement situations as noted in a recent department statement.
The program, the first of its kind under the Major Cities Chiefs Association to take flight, uses drones to swiftly reach incidents. The unmanned aircraft have serviced over 1,670 calls in Montgomery County from three operating sites and, in a striking 71% of cases, arrived before patrol units on the scene, averaging a response time of 71 seconds. However, many drones zip through the sky to reach crises in under a minute, granting officers precious extra moments to take stock of unfolding events and act accordingly.
Highlighting the efficiency of this high-tech initiative, the DFR program allowed police officers to bypass dispatch to approximately 257 cases, effectively freeing them to attend to other duties. Meanwhile, the assistance these drones supplied led to locating over 450 individuals ranging from crime suspects to missing persons, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police program's press release.
One pivotal April 17 incident where the "Raven 1" drone played a decisive role depicted an altercation at Georgia Avenue and Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring. The drone not only filmed the incident but also tracked the suspect, leading to an apprehension that stood distinct in its avoidance of injury or force—it also became the first drone-captured evidence to secure a conviction in the county's Circuit Court, the footage capturing the truth of the affair with impartial precision.
Chief Marc Yamada expressed great pride in the DFR program's achievements, stating, "I could not be prouder of the success of our Drone as First Responder program," and acknowledged the collective effort behind the program's successful implementation and operation from police executives to community members who've entrusted the department with running a transparent and effective program, and a sentiment echoed in the Montgomery County Department of Police official statement.
