Warren unveils drone first responder program

WARREN — Through a new partnership between the city’s public safety departments, Warren first responders will now be able to get an almost-immediate look at a crime scene or emergency situation before the first units arrive.

At a March 3 press conference, the Warren Police Department unveiled its drone first responder program aimed at providing faster response times by giving incident commanders a view of an emergency scene within minutes, according to Warren Police Lt. Brandon Roy.

“This is a real-time intelligence program that we’re using to leverage a lot of different capabilities for our first responders on the road to respond more efficiently, faster and safer to things that are happening in real time,” he said.

The program is a partnership between the Warren police and fire departments and is paid for by the millage that was passed in November.

“For me, as I look at this from a broader scope. What makes this special for me is that this is the first time in my 35-plus years in law enforcement that I’ve seen a true partnership between the local police and fire departments for an initiative of this magnitude,” Warren Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins said.

The Warren Fire Department has operated a drone program for the past couple years and will continue to do so, said Jeff Middleton, the department’s chief safety officer.

The drone first responders are equipped with technology such as thermal cameras and can be used to clear backyards and wooded areas during perimeter and containment operations and assist officers on the ground by delivering live video during active events, allowing for better and quicker decision-making, Roy said.

One example shown during the presentation was how a drone flying over a structure fire was able to help officers identify where the hotspots were in a house fire, even after it had been extinguished, by use of its thermal camera.

The drones are also equipped with anti-collision sensors and software to avoid crashing into any obstacles, such as buildings or power lines, Roy said. While the drones are capable of flying at more than 45 mph, he said that would disable the software.

Drones will launch from any of the city’s five fire stations as well as the Christopher M. Wouters Warren Police Headquarters, providing coverage across the entire city, Warren Fire Commissioner Skip McAdams said.

Once dispatched, the drones will arrive at a scene and begin to deliver information within moments, allowing the incident commander to make informed decisions earlier, McAdams said.

“This capability allows our incident commanders to begin scene size-up within moments of the drone’s arrival, rather than waiting the typical five to seven minutes for the first responding unit from police or fire,” he said.

The department also has drones for other purposes, such as searching interiors, Middleton said.

“The way I think of it is like a golf club. Drones have different capabilities. This could be a driver, I can get a distance … but when I need to get up close and personal, like a putter, I have a different drone for that,” he said.

The department has pilots on a combination of eight-hour and 10-hour shifts, allowing for drone coverage between 10 a.m. and 2 a.m. most days, Roy said. The pilots are monitoring radio traffic in real time and proactively fly the runs that can benefit from the drones. Additionally, officers have the ability to request a drone at any time, Roy said.

Roy added that the drones are not listening to conversations, carrying weapons or performing random surveillance.

“Our (unmanned aerial vehicles) do not fly without a documented public safety purpose or a call for service,” he said.

“One fire truck costs in excess of a million dollars. In this city, we run about 23,000 calls, and if you multiply that by the cost of a $30,000 drone, and you equate that to being able to send that as a first responder to determine what assets we truly need on the scene, this is significantly more cost-effective than sending a million-dollar truck,” he said.

Each drone costs about $30,000 and has an expected life of five years, though they plan to replace them after three, Roy said.

McAdams echoed that drones are more cost-efficient than sending a firetruck to a scene.

Warren Police Lt. John Gajewski said the Fire Department has 21 employees trained and certified to operate the drones. The Police Department has three full-time employees but plans to train another 20 for piloting, he said.