Yonkers Police Department's emergency response drone pilot program takes flight
YONKERS (WABC) -- There's a new crime-fighting tool taking off in Yonkers and officials say it will give officers on the ground an upper hand.
The Yonkers Police Department is launching what it calls a "first in the region" pilot program to deploy drones to emergency situations.
Not constrained by traffic, the drones could save critical seconds and minutes when it comes to providing lifesaving care.
It launches from St. Joseph's Hospital across the street from police headquarters. The video feed from the drone is viewed at the Police Department by a trained first responder teleoperator.
The teleoperator is able to operate the drone remotely and communicate with field personnel via radio immediately. The high-resolution camera has infrared and thermal capabilities. It can be used not only to find suspects but missing persons as well.
The drone can even deploy flotation devices to people in the Hudson River who may be in distress.
Officers and supervisors in the field can even watch a real-time video feed of the drone right on their smartphone or laptop.
This way, they know what they are responding to before they even arrive on the scene. One example the department used is a car accident with multiple injuries.
"We can now see from the drone, hey, there's more calls involved than we originally thought, than one caller said. Now we can get that third ambulance, fourth ambulance rolling faster, get to the scene quicker, and potentially save someone's life," said Sgt. Frank Didomizio, Yonkers Police Department.
The drone can cover some 60% of the city.
The Yonkers Police Department says, "The ability to evaluate the resources needed, prepare the proper operational response, and increase the safety of the first responders and the public is the intent of the project and the mission of this program."
People can check the flight log for the department's drone responses.
The public can see the drone flights, which include the date, time, flight path, and the reason for the flight.
The pilot program began on Monday and will run for the next two months. It cost the city $100,000. After the 60-day period, the department will determine how effective the program is and determine what the cost would be to scale up the program to cover more of the city with additional drones.
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