Los Angeles Police Department's DFR pilot program delivers strong results, paving the way for full-time rollout
2026年7月25日
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell is turning the department’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) pilot program into a permanent, full-time unit, and the results explain why. Flying up to 42 miles per hour, LAPD drones get eyes on the scene before patrol units arrive on 73% of dispatched calls, giving officers real-time visibility on suspects, weapons, and vehicles before they’re even on-site.
That head start recently proved critical when two drones helped locate a missing 5-year-old boy in under five minutes.
- New in 11. It could be the future of crisis response. For the past year, the
- LAPD has been
- sending drones out to assess emergency situations. And now the pilot program is
- nearly complete.
- High witness news reporter Amy Powell speaking with the police chief tonight
- about how the
- department plans to use this technology going forward. Drones are often used to
- entertain crowds
- during holiday celebrations. But this drone is on duty. One of several, the
- LAPD is now dispatching
- to emergency calls as part of the department's drone as first responder program.
- The pilot program
- started nearly a year ago. The drones can travel as fast as 42 miles per hour
- of the calls their
- dispatch to 73% of the time they get there before the patrol units able to get
- there.
- They have the ability to go around things that are in their way so it's safe.
- The drones hovering
- over crime and accident scenes serving as eyes in the sky, giving the LAPD key
- information before
- patrol officers arrive. So if there are suspects there, do they have weapons?
- How many are there?
- Are they loading up in the car to flee? If they are, what's the car look like?
- What's the plate?
- Drones recently helping officers find a missing five-year-old boy. We sent up
- two drones to the
- area to be able to get there as well as a number of patrol units. And within
- five minutes, the
- drones were able to locate that boy walking on his own. The chief addressing
- concerns that some
- may have about drones flying over their homes, saying the department is being
- careful about
- maintaining the public's right to privacy. We don't record until they get over
- the call,
- right before they get to the call and then when they get over the call, when
- they leave the call
- to come back, the recording is turned off. So we're not looking at anything too
- and from the call.
- Members of the public can log on to the LAPD website if a drone is dispatched
- to an area.
- It allows them to track the route the drone took to get there when it was
- recording
- and when the camera was turned off. The pilot program is nearly over and the
- LAPD expects to
- make the drones a full-time unit. Chief McDonald calls the drones a tremendous
- asset
- and he says they're making the streets safer for officers. Amy Powell, ABC
- seven out of the streets.
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