Arlington PD first in state with expanded drone program

Arlington PD first in Texas with expanded drone program

Arlington's police chief says the expanded drone program will help officers do their job safely.

  (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Arlington Police Department is elevating its use of drone technology.

According to Chief Al Jones, the department is the first in the state to obtain a "line-of-sight" waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration. Jones says this expanded permit allows them to operate drones without a visual observer. 

The chief says the program will help police perform their job safely.

'Drones as a First Responder' program

The new operation is called the "Drone as a First Responder" program, or DFR. The department has been designing, tweaking and trying out its use to enhance the response to calls. They say the program will never replace officers’ response.

The DFR program began two months ago, though drones have been in use by the department for years. The drones are launched from two docks in separate locations.

What they're saying:

Jones tells us the program may be able to reduce response times drastically.

"We have about an eight-minute response, but with our drones within our radius, we could do it within a minute or two," the chief said. "This program is really going to ramp up how we are using drones and take us to the next level."

According to Jones, their ability to fly the drones at long range from their officers will help to keep law enforcement out of harm's way. 

"Our officers respond, not knowing whether a person has a gun or not, but our drones can fly to that location, get real-time intelligence, being able to identify whether the person has a gun or not, and provide that intelligence to our officers," said Jones.

"Our job is to deliver to those officers the best information that we can as quickly as we can so they can do their job better and safer," said Sgt. Eric Borton. "This role becomes even more complicated when those officers respond to more serious calls such as burglaries or assaults in progress."

The plan going forward

What's next:

As the program progresses, the department says their goal is to add more drones to their force.