High stakes crisis: How drones help the OC Sheriff’s Office save the day
Discover how the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Florida uses Skydio autonomous drones to accelerate responses to critical incidents, gain better situational awareness, improve officer and community safety. Hear real-world examples and see an engaging video demonstration as you learn about the pivotal role drones play in modern law enforcement, including their impact on high-stakes crisis management and real-time tactical decision-making.
Learn more about Skydio DFR.
- Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's LexPol webinar,
- High Stakes Crisis:
- How Drones Help the Orange County Sheriff's Office Save the Day.
- We're gonna be getting started in just a minute or so here.
- Just quick clarification, folks.
- Today we're gonna be talking about Orange County, Florida, so over on the, uh, East
- Coast of Florida, and not the Orange County of the West
- Coast.
- We wanna thank our sponsors for today's webinar, Skydio.
- Been working with them on a couple different events this year,
- and they've been
- great to partner with. So we definitely want to extend our
- appreciation to
- Skydio for being our sponsor for today's webinar.
- All right. We've got a great panel joining us here
- today.
- Let me introduce them at this point.
- Deputy Michael Kleinfeld has 22 years of experience in law enforcement,
- starting his career with Lake County Sheriff's Office and then joining Orange
- County Sheriff's Office in 2005. He has experience in a
- variety of specialties within law enforcement from mounted patrol, SWAT,
- youth services as an SRO in h- high school, sex
- crimes, FDLE task force, and now serves as the agency's
- drone coordinator and trainer.
- In 2010, Deputy Kleinfeld was Florida Sheriff's Association
- [phone ringing]
- Deputy Sheriff of the Year for the State of Florida.
- Mike is an avid drone pilot with over 10 years of experience in drone photography
- and operates Windmere Photography outside of his role with OCSO.
- Also joining us is Lieutenant Rob Branch, and Rob's a 22-year veteran of
- the Orange County Sheriff's Office and currently assigned at the aviation...
- as the aviation unit lieutenant. He helps oversee the manned and
- unmanned flight operations throughout the large 900-plus square miles
- of a tourist-oriented county. He earned a master's degree in business
- management
- from the University of Florida, and is a graduate of the 66th
- Command Officers Development Course.
- Lieutenant Branch worked as a tactical flight officer in the
- aviation unit for five and a half years before being assigned
- full-time
- as one of the unit managers. Also with us today is Noreen Charlton,
- and Noreen has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from John Carroll University in
- Cleveland, Ohio. For more than a decade, she worked in the crime scene
- investigation section of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
- in Las Vegas, Nevada. Throughout her time in the field,
- she responded to nearly
- 4,000 scenes, including a Route 91 Harvest Festival mass
- casualty shooting. Building on her experience, Noreen has
- shifted her focus in recent years to the instruction and implementation of 3D
- technologies for public safety applications.
- She's also played a crucial role in the documentation and forensic
- analysis of numerous high-profile cases.
- And at this point, I'm gonna turn the floor over to Rob,
- Mike, and Noreen. Welcome.
- Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it. Uh, and thank you to everyone for joining us
- with an
- exciting chat, uh, with members of the Orange County
- Sheriff's Office.
- Over the next 45 minutes or so, they will share insights into their drone
- program and real-world experiences using drones in various
- operations. And then before we wrap up, they will highlight an
- incident, and we have a video from a high-rise hotel
- where drones were
- pivotal in providing additional information and developing the right
- tactical response.
- Whether you are currently exploring the idea of starting a drone
- program or just looking to scale your current program,
- this discussion will definitely provide you with valuable insights and tips
- from Orange County. And so again, thanks for hanging out with us, and
- we will start with an overview of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
- Guys, I'll hand it off to you.
- Hi. Thank you, Noreen. Uh, the Orange County Sheriff's Office is, uh,
- a large
- county sheriff's office in Central Florida. Uh, and we have...
- We're budgeted for about 1,900 sworn members.
- Um, but through staffing shortages like
- everybody's going through, we, uh,
- we have about 1,700 sworn,
- uh, and 800 civilian, uh, members in our agency.
- Uh, we're a little over 1,000 square miles in
- the entire county with nine,
- uh, cities that have their own police
- departments.
- Um, but we are by far the largest law
- enforcement, uh,
- agency in Central Florida. We have about, uh, 1.5 million
- residents, and we receive about 1.4 million
- [phone ringing] calls for service a
- year.
- Um,
- and we currently operate a fleet of 28
- drones, mostly in uniform patrol.
- Uh, the 25 in uniform patrol with, uh, two permanently
- assigned to forensics, and one is obviously with our,
- our [phone ringing] drone
- coordinator, Mike, who's on the call with us.
- Well, thanks. And is there anything that you can tell everyone who's joining
- us
- today about the airspace in Orange County Sheriff's Office?
- Well, we do have, uh, the international airspace with the
- airport, and we have
- an executive airport that we operate out of.
- So, uh, generally, all the airspace [phone ringing]
- that we fly in is a controlled
- airspace. Yes.
- All right. Perfect. Um, so now we'll jump into the
- history of your drone program. Um, I know that you kind of
- started quite a few years ago, and you've ramped up as of late.
- So can we talk about where this started and where we are today?
- Well, there's kind of a two-phase part to our,
- our drone program.
- We started back in 2000, uh... or I'm sorry, two...
- 2018 [phone ringing] uh, purchasing drones.
- Um, but [laughs] because of COVID and some,
- um, some,
- some concerns from some, um, some concerns from residents,
- uh, and some outcry, uh, there was a...
- There were some complications, and that never really got launched.
- And then, uh, beginning, uh, in 2022, there were
- some talks that there was going to be some changes under Florida
- law with,
- uh, drones that were purchased or used out of a foreign...
- a country of foreign concern. So those drones
- inevitably, um, were traded in through the
- state, and there was a reimbursement program.
- And then so essentially in 2023- Uh, was when we really
- started to ramp up our drone program.
- Uh, we purchased several Skydio drones.
- We saw good success with them, and we developed a drone
- coordinator position, and that's where, where Mike comes in.
- He's now our full-time drone coordinator, and we work hand-in-hand with our
- manned and unmanned aviation, uh, here out of our flight
- operations.
- Excellent. And actually, Mike, if you don't mind,
- I would love to talk to you
- specifically about being a full-time coordinator.
- I think you guys have done an excellent job of kind of designating
- the ownership of the program to one person, and that definitely
- contributes to your success. So can you speak specifically to
- that role?
- Uh, yes. Thank you, um, everybody.
- Yes, it is a, uh, somewhat of a challenge at first.
- Um, we had, uh, the program starting, and then we had the law
- change, um, on the heels. Um, Governor Ron DeSantis, um,
- signed a law, you know, preventing certain types of drones
- that we can't...
- Or
- listing the types of drones we can and can't use.
- So that was obviously a challenge, but, um, uh,
- I think we've overcome that, and our, uh, program just continues to, to
- grow with the support of good leadership, with Sheriff Mina, um,
- uh, really embracing that technology, and then the technology that just
- continues, uh, to, to improve. Um, I mean, anybody in the
- drone industry right now knows that, uh, what's on the market
- today is on the shelf tomorrow, um, on clearance because there's, there's just
- something new, um, out there. So, uh, it's, it's been a great, uh, great
- experience though, for sure.
- Excellent. And then there was a mention of air support.
- So you're unique in the fact that you have that, right?
- Most agencies don't have access to helicopters.
- But when we have spoken to agencies who are using both helicopters
- and drones, we find out that they actually complement each other
- pretty well.
- Can you talk about working in conjunction with that team?
- Uh, yes. I mean, it's, it has been a great opportunity
- to work with Amanda Aviation, um, only because, um, we stay
- on the same page. If I have a s- a specific mission going on,
- I'm telling these
- guys, "Hey, listen, I'm out, uh... I'm doing DFR research.
- Um, I'll be in this location. Um, I'll be a radius
- of, of this distance." So that way, that manned aviation, our,
- our helicopter guys
- know that, um, we're out there doing that operation.
- Moreover, um, learning as a TFO, um, to be
- able to coordinate drones from a helicopter.
- Um, so not only do I do the coordinator, uh, role, but I also,
- um, become part of the TFO team. So it has been a challenge.
- It's, it's somewhat interesting to see a drone
- hovering with a helicopter
- orbiting and trying to guide a, a drone in.
- So learning that perspective, um, I think it makes us stronger, and it
- helps with training and teaching these guys how to direct a
- drone towards an individual as well, w- which I didn't realize was, was an
- issue, um, until we actually got up in the helicopter
- to experience it.
- Excellent.
- And, and Noreen, if I may.
- Please.
- One, one thing that we benefited from was we, uh, we're, we're
- passionate about including the manned pilots.
- A lot of our,
- uh, instructors, actually all of our instructors,
- come from the aviation unit, and
- they may be,
- uh, full-time pilots with us, or they may be full-time flight officers.
- But either way, they're involved in the aviation unit
- somehow, and they've, they've
- dedicated years of their, their career to the manned side of the
- aviation. Um, and I think it helped
- minimize the, the negativity or the stigma with
- the unmanned side when you're, um, you're one of the
- trained instructors, and you're one of the agency instructors
- for all the
- uniform patrol pilots. It, it really helped build some collaboration.
- Excellent. Yeah, I think, uh, with the agencies
- that do have manned aviation, we're
- finding that they are s- you know, having a lot of buy-in from that
- group. Um, I think originally there was this assumption that maybe drones were
- trying to replace that, and they certainly aren't, right?
- There's a lot of things that you're gonna do with a helicopter
- that you just can't
- do with a drone. Um, but I do think there's a massive benefit
- to
- having lots of drones in the field that can go places that, you know, your
- helicopters can't. So they can be up in different airspace at
- different
- times or different weather conditions.
- So there's definitely a lot of benefit to having both, and it looks like that you
- have, uh, figured out how to work with both of those
- very well.
- Yeah, Noreen, I will say-
- Can we speak spec- Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.
- Yeah. I, I will say that they really embraced the, uh,
- drones once they realized
- that we weren't gonna be taking it over, uh, airspace or anything like
- that. They really started to embrace it.
- And, uh, actually some of the, the pilots and TFOs are, are instructors.
- Um, they, they help instruct new pilots.
- So it's great to have that, uh, that, uh, cooperation.
- Excellent. And you have a pretty robust program.
- So what...
- Can we talk about kind of how many drones you have and how we got to where you are
- today, and then a little bit about, uh, getting the buy-in and
- how many pilots and instructors you have as well?
- Yes. We, we have 28 drones. Uh, majority of those are in uniform
- patrol. And we, uh, through
- collaboration, we have multiple divisions here at the
- agency, probably like a lot
- of larger agencies. Um, an aviation unit
- controls and trains, uh, all of the,
- uh, manned and unmanned pilots, but we don't pick them.
- Uh, we certainly can't know all 1,800 of our
- personnel.
- Uh, there's probably 8 or 900 in uniform patrol alone.
- Uh, so we ask the sector captains, uh, we have, uh, six sector captains,
- to submit names of, uh, personnel that they think would be go-getters,
- uh, and good level-headed individuals that would be good pilots for us.
- Um, and then we require everyone to obviously
- go out and get a, uh,
- commercial 107,
- uh, which the agency will pay for the training
- and the, and the testing.
- But you have to pass the 107 before we will even consider you for placement
- into, uh, our school. And then we spend a considerable amount of
- time,
- um, developing a, a curriculum and a lesson plan for the training.
- Um, we're all... All the agency instructors are trained,
- the trainer, um,
- trained. From the manufacturer, and then we
- developed a lesson plan from that, submitted it through, uh, our training
- chain of command. And it's, it's been a, a, a very daunting process, but
- we think it's, it's, um, something you can, you can really rely on.
- And it's a 40-hour school. It's, um, an intensive, uh, two to three days
- of classroom, and then literally two days of flying.
- Uh, and we incorporate a lot of flying in
- there, so by the time that you're out of
- the, of the 40-hour week, uh, you are a very good basic pilot.
- And then obviously we encourage, uh, extra training, uh, outside of the
- 40-hour school.
- Excellent. And did you find it difficult to get
- buy-in from anyone, or
- did you feel like a lot of people were kind of raising their hand and, and
- volunteering to be pilots?
- Well, we, we had a... It's interesting you ask.
- We had a great rush at the beginning.
- Um, and it didn't take a whole lot to convince
- people to come
- on board. Uh, now I think what we're seeing
- is we're trying to maintain the
- motivation, and that's probably one of our biggest
- challenges right now.
- Uh, instead of
- let's just call it the familiarization flights or the, "I wanna show my zone
- partner flights," uh, we've had a couple, couple schools now, and we'll
- see a very high, um, tick up in the flights and the
- flight hours, uh, in and around the school time.
- But we're... But then we'll dip back down after the
- class, and we, we
- really wanna try to promote,
- uh, the, the apprehension flights or the successful mission
- flights as opposed to just the familiarization type flights.
- So, uh, we're working with any kind of benefits
- that we can
- add. Um, you know, money's always a hot button issue and,
- and with pay.
- But if we can add some side benefits or some enhancements to the uniform patrol
- people. I mean, there's people that obviously just wanna go out
- and fly the drone
- and, and they are, they are are great go-getters.
- Um, but as we keep expanding and we talk about expanding more, there,
- there
- will be a challenge where we're finding aggressive individuals
- to be able to deploy the drone, and then communicating with their chain of
- command,
- uh, on what they can and can't fly with.
- Uh, how can we motivate the chain of commands
- to allow this individual
- to go fly on as many calls for service as they can.
- Uh, so yes, there's, there's some challenges, uh, in, in that
- realm.
- Anything specifically that you are doing to generate
- awareness, um, for the agency as a whole as to what you
- are doing and the
- success stories that you're having with the drone program so that they want them
- around more and they're requesting them more often?
- Well, we, [laughs] we send Mike out quite a bit.
- Uh, and Mike's a great field personnel, uh, to go out and try to
- drum up the, the knowledge. Uh, Mike's an incredibly skilled
- pilot, uh, and he's, he's readily available.
- Part of the,
- the downside, so to speak, of the uniform patrol approach is
- that they have
- all the calls for service to answer. Uh, they're not a dedicated drone pilot.
- So they have...
- 99% of their responsibility has nothing to do with the drone.
- So we... We're trying to encourage what calls
- are good to fly on.
- Um,
- encourage the supervisors to allow them to go fly on that call,
- and then obviously congratulating them and, and boosting the,
- uh, the notoriety when they get great catches.
- Um, but Mike has been a tremendous resource to
- go out and,
- um, basically catch those calls, come up on the radio, be vocal
- about it, and everybody starts getting the mindset,
- "Oh, that, that is a good
- drone call." 'Cause we have to keep in mind this, the drone part, the m-
- unmanned side of our aviation is, is incredibly new to this
- agency. So people don't always associate,
- uh, "Hey, can you send me a drone?" That's,
- that's a new concept in our, in our
- agency. So we have to kind of get rid of
- that mindset of, "Well, we gotta wait
- 10 to 15 minutes for Chase to arrive, uh, if we want to call for Chase."
- That's our, that's our helicopter name.
- So, uh, that's not necessarily true.
- You might have a drone pilot on your squad, um, and
- just by the mere fact of you asking, it, it dawns on everybody's memory, um,
- "Okay, we... That, that's some- that's an option."
- And they're very quick to
- respond.
- You bring up a great point. I think, um, you know, I'm just coming off the heels of
- being at the IACP conference, uh, over this weekend, and I'm having a lot of
- conversations with agencies who are primarily using drones
- in crime and crasing- crash scene documentation
- or for search and rescue
- efforts. But they're really starting now to look
- more into getting them
- into patrol operations and into daily calls for service.
- But you highlight this barrier of this isn't the way that policing has been
- done. And so there's this, not even a hesitation, but there's just a
- lack of awareness on how many times you could actually be using a drone and
- how easy it is to get it up in the air and provide you that additional
- information.
- So, um, I think, you know, we all need to do a little bit better of a
- job now that drones are becoming more prevalent in law
- enforcement at educating
- everyone on the different types of scenes that they can be used for.
- And I think the case study that we have at the end of this session
- really
- highlights that.
- Um, you mentioned that you have a 40-hour
- training session that you put, uh, your pilots through, but do you have any
- additional requirements that they do on a quarterly
- or yearly basis,
- um, just to maintain their proficiency?
- That's one of our goals. We want to establish a better quarterly
- training.
- Um, we have had... All our pilots will come back for the
- schools to help, uh, as adjunct instructors, so to speak,
- assist with
- the teach-ins. Um, they will assist with the NITS course
- that we've
- incorporated into the 40-hour course.
- So we will do some scenario-based training during that time,
- but that's one of our longer term goals is to incorporate some, um, more
- advanced, uh, suspect searching or some more grid searching.
- Uh, we're, we're trying to develop some, some lesson plans for that type
- of a material
- Excellent.
- So now we're gonna touch on, um, kind of the way that
- Skydio looks at the path to drone as first responder,
- um, and the different phases along the way.
- And so I kind of just touched on this briefly already, but
- we're seeing that drones are mostly being used in these specialized
- units, and
- we're calling this kind of drone on a shelf.
- So you've got your drone, lives on a shelf somewhere,
- whether it's one of your
- substations or, you know, a specific lab or a specific area where
- you
- keep it. Um, these units are requested out to do a
- specific task. Maybe that's search and rescue, maybe that's a crash scene
- documentation. And usually it takes them quite a
- while to get to the scene because
- then again, you have smaller units where they might be
- at home, they've gotta
- come in, they've gotta get the drone, and they've gotta get out to the scene.
- And so a lot of agencies now are moving away from that and into
- patrol-led deployment. So this is moving those drones from the shelf
- into the trunk of patrol vehicles, so they are more readily available
- on these, you know, everyday calls for service,
- so we can get them out
- there and up in the air faster.
- And what people are now moving into even more is what we're calling patrol-led
- drone as first responder. So, um, with
- drones, uh, like Skydio X10 that has 5G capabilities, it
- enables an officer to get a drone on the scene from the
- trunk of their vehicle, but to give up the piloting aspect
- of it to someone in a remote location.
- So that could be a dispatch center or real-time crime center.
- It doesn't matter where the pilot's located.
- And the 5G capability gives them, um, the chance
- to remotely pilot that so that the officer on the ground can get
- back to work
- doing what they were doing in the first place, right?
- So they don't have to worry about being a pilot.
- They don't have to worry about controlling the drone.
- And when we're talking about shorting, uh, short staffing in law
- enforcement, this isn't, again, taking another person out of the field
- who's now
- stuck with a controller. They really just have to get the drone on
- the ground, and
- someone else can manage it.
- And now there's even more of a shift towards, uh, dock-based drone as
- first responder. So this is taking docking stations in
- pre-positioned locations throughout a jurisdiction, um, so that they
- can respond to calls for service in your highest crime areas,
- you know, within seconds, within under two minutes, right?
- And so the idea is to get that drone overhead as quickly as possible
- so we can start feeding that information to all the units in the
- field, to all the
- command staff, to whomever needs to see it for
- that particular call.
- And there's kind of two different versions of this.
- There's piloted, where again, you have someone in a remote location, a
- dispatch center or RTCC, who is
- piloting the drone from that dock to calls for service
- based on, you know, an, a 911 call coming in or a
- ShotSpotter ping.
- Um, but where we're moving toward very quickly
- is
- autonomous flight, where the systems that are gathering that
- GPS location... So let's say automated license plate
- reader hit.
- We now have that GPS location. That's popping up in the
- software. And with the click of a button
- that says fly here
- now or yes, you want to fly here, um, the drone will
- autonomously fly to that location.
- So no pilot input at all. Of course, you can take over if you need to
- or want to, but it's just going directly to that
- location, taking the best and easiest path, um, to get
- overseen, uh, overhead as quickly as possible.
- So
- this is kind of the path to drone as first responder as we have defined it.
- With all of that in mind, can you guys just talk about where you
- started, um, where you currently are today in your operations,
- and where you
- see the future of drones for the Orange County Sheriff's Office?
- Mike, would you like to start?
- Sure. [clears throat] Thanks, Maureen.
- So, uh, the slide that's up right now, you see specialized units in
- patrol-led deployment. We're presently at the patrol-led
- deployment,
- um, which means our deputies, uh, like we previously said, have all been
- trained. Um, they have a drone that's assigned to them,
- and then
- they utilize that drone when the calls arise.
- So the patrol-led has been very, very good for us.
- Uh, no joke, before we started this webinar,
- we had a deputy out with a drone
- streaming. I was sitting in my office helping him.
- We were chasing a guy in the woods. So, um, it was quite an
- experience. Um, and I was like, "Ugh, I'm gonna jump on this call and we're
- gonna find him, then I have to go." So but, uh, we
- were working together.
- He was watching, um, the visible, uh, camera, and I was
- watching the thermal camera from my office here.
- Um, and we picked the guy up, um, but we lost him.
- But nonetheless, it worked out great. I was able to communicate with him.
- He's out flying and I'm in a remote location, um, helping him catch somebody.
- So, um, what a testament to, to what that experience has been like.
- So the patrol-led, uh, drone as a first responder, that is
- something that we are, um, we're exploring.
- Uh, we're doing the research in advance.
- Um, I'm working on a white paper to see if,
- or to compare,
- um, our exper- or if the drone...
- I guess it'll show if, if we're getting there on our scenes fast
- enough.
- Um, I have had a few calls, um, where I'm sitting on the top of the roof
- with a
- drone ready to go, listening for those calls to come in
- and deploying the drone.
- And so far, um, I'm getting there before the deputies are.
- Um, and I'm able to pump the video out.
- I'm telling the patrol supervisors, "Hey, here's the link to the video.
- If you hear the drone, um, being deployed, you're able to leave the browser open."
- Boom, they're able to see what I'm seeing
- already on scene.
- So, so far it's been, uh, pretty positive.
- Um, but again, I'm, I'm writing a wr- uh, a white paper 'cause I wanna be able to
- show, you know, our taxpayers, "Hey, we did the time.
- We did the research beforehand. Um, and, and, uh,
- this is what our results were." So I, I think it's just being, um,
- you know, doing your duty to, to, to the taxpayers, the people
- that we serve.
- So, um, so that seems to be going, um, really well.
- And then as we saw in Ascend, which was a great event, um, um,
- with the new dock that's coming out, uh, it's, it's great.
- So we're looking forward to, to, to that experience and to see where the
- evidence, if you will, or where the, uh, the research, research takes us
- Yeah, that's excellent. And I think, um, you bring up a great point about being
- really transparent, not only internally with, um, you know,
- the stakeholders within
- your agency who are finding the budget for these types of programs, but to your
- community, um, so they understand the benefit of having
- these drones in the air,
- especially when there's some concern about, you know, privacy and,
- um, concern about just what you're doing with
- the drones.
- Part of what we're really passionate about is transparency with the community.
- And so, um, Skydio recently just announced
- that we have created a
- Skydio DFR Command, which is a software that enables you to
- do DFR operations. Um, and part of that is a
- transparency dashboard that allows you to publish your flights,
- um, uh, with the information that you want to publish at the time,
- given whether
- or not it's an open investigation, so that your community understands you are
- flying them, where you're flying them, and kind of what general incidents you are
- flying them for.
- But even more so, we wanna get deeper into that.
- So the types of metrics like, you know, how long on average did it
- take you to fly to a call for service?
- Or how often was the drone on scene before units on the
- ground? And how often were you able to say, "Hey, guess what?
- We don't actually need a deputy to respond because the drone
- arrived and found out, you know, there's actually nothing going on,"
- or it was a
- false alarm or, you know, fill in the blank for all the reasons you
- might not
- respond. Um, and so those are
- different metrics that you can put out to your community so
- they understand the
- benefits, and I think that really helps with the buy-in
- and the engagement, that
- they're supportive of the program so that it actually becomes beneficial
- to everyone within the agency.
- Yeah. And I think drone advocacy is a, is a big part of that, uh, as well,
- Maureen. Um, if you're out talking to your community,
- like as a resource
- deputy, I've taught a whole day... You know, I would teach...
- at least each year, a whole day in some of the classes just
- about
- how drones are used. Um, how drones are used in agriculture, how drones
- are used in
- law enforcement. And what I've, what I've seen of the future of drones,
- uh, we're going. Um, moreover, I got a text last night to go back
- out to University of Central Florida. Go Knights. Graduated from there in 2019.
- Uh, go back out there and, uh, teach more, um, of how drones are
- used in law enforcement. There's a professor out there
- that teaches criminal
- justice. So we're s- really seeing drones change the landscape,
- um, really, really big. And again, like I said earlier, it's constantly
- evolving. It went from patrol led to, you know, uh, within
- five years, the drone landscape's gonna look
- completely different.
- And, uh, um, we're gonna say, "Wow, you know,
- we used to deploy drones from a car,
- and now we're deploying drones, you know, from rooftops, um, of, of
- buildings." So, um, so yeah, it's, uh, I think your community
- engagement is, is really big. Um, speaking with, um,
- our... We have a civilian review board and whatever.
- Uh, I've done presentations in front of them,
- showing them, "Hey,
- these, these are the drones that we use. There's no weapons on them.
- We're not dropping tear gas or anything like
- that from them." We're showing like
- these drones are being g- used for, um, the good of our community,
- keeping our deputies safe, uh, uh, finding lost children or adults,
- um, and, uh, keeping our community safe.
- So I think advocacy is, is the biggest part there though,
- for sure.
- Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more.
- Um, you know, I just said that I was at, at IACP this past weekend.
- Last year, conversations there were very tech fo- like tech spec focused.
- You know, what kind of zoom does the camera have?
- What kind of cameras are on it?
- What's the flight time? What's...
- You know, it was very tech spec oriented
- and kind of just a general education on using
- drones in law enforcement outside of these specialized units.
- And this year it was much more, we need drones because
- we need, you know, our, our, our length of time for before we respond
- is
- way too high, and the city's not happy with it.
- And we don't have enough officers to respond to all these calls,
- and they're just
- sitting in a queue. And, you know, we're trying to reduce use of force, and
- we're trying to make our officers safer, safer.
- And so
- the conversations have shifted significantly to
- the better outcomes that come with drones in law enforcement.
- And so to your point, yeah, I think the landscape
- is definitely going to be
- changing quite a bit here in the next couple years.
- And, um, y- everyone wants to be a part of it now.
- Everyone sees that having drones in patrol will just, you know, in
- general make both the agency, the officers, and the
- community safer. [laughs]
- Sorry. That's what you get on live.
- No, you're good. [laughs] Yep, we're live.
- [laughs] Um, all right.
- So I did wanna touch on your, uh, current flight metrics.
- So if you guys wanna talk through this and talk about where you are today with
- the... I guess we're looking at since March of
- 2023.
- Yeah. The, um... So from 2023 to present, we've had
- 2,910 flights. Um, that's a lot. Uh, we
- started, uh, originally with just two, um, X2Es.
- Um, we... Again, when the law changed, um, in
- 2023 from Governor DeSantis, we obviously, um,
- traded out older drones that we had from countries of foreign
- concern and went with
- the, uh, Skydio drones. Um, we've logged
- 628 hours. Um, we have 31 pilots. Uh,
- we have about 4.8 flights per day, and then, um,
- 13 minutes is the average flight time, and then 16
- hours of flight time per pilot. Um, the...
- You know, I wouldn't look at the hours or the minutes of the average flight time
- because I'm telling you, these guys are out there flying the props off of
- these
- things, um, some days. So, um, but yeah, our num- our
- numbers, uh, continue to grow obviously since 2023,
- although our program goes back even before, uh, before then.
- But each year I would say the numbers continue to increase.
- Yeah. Excellent. And I think our next slide here
- is just on primary use cases.
- So when we look at all of your flights logged, and we look at all the hours of
- flying and how many pilots you have, can you just touch on, like,
- what you're most
- commonly flying on and the, um, incidents that you're most commonly called
- to?
- Sure. Uh, persons of interest, uh, searches, um, [laughs] as we
- found out before I got on here, we were doing that.
- Um, uh, but, uh, yeah, person of interest searches seem to be
- our,
- our main, um, search followed by incident overwatch.
- So if we have a person that's barricaded or we have,
- uh, you know, a large, uh, domestic disturbance or a crowd,
- something like that,
- um, incident overwatch would be the next one
- that we fly
- next to, and then missing and endangered persons.
- Um, and then you'll see others on there.
- Other basically covers, like as you can see in the picture,
- one of our forensics
- girls, um, article searches, uh, 3D
- mapping. They do any of that with some of the FARO equipment
- that they have.
- So, or, you know, just random stuff such as the public
- information
- office. They're like, "Hey, we have an event going on.
- We'd like to get a three-second clip.
- Can you drive two hours out here to come get that clip for us?" So, uh, that kind
- of falls under the other department, but, uh, you know, we really enjoy it though.
- So but those, those are our categories that we, we see the
- most.
- Your last comment there sparked this question,
- and I didn't think of it previously
- when we talked about community engagement and transparency.
- But do you ever use social media to kind of, um, talk to the
- community about your program and how you're using drones?
- So our social media goes through a strategic s- communications office.
- So, um,
- in part yes and in part no. Do they use, uh, drone videos that we collect
- for them in their social media posts? Yes.
- But, um, is it being posted out there like, "Hey,
- these are our
- drones"? To that answer I would say it's no, so.
- Except for recently.
- Okay.
- Yeah, yeah. A lot of agencies... I mean, there's s- it's all over the board, right?
- Some agencies are all in on, you know, the Facebook posts
- and the TikTok dances and
- whatever they're doing these days.
- And so, um, in that sense they are, you know, talking about when
- they're using drones and, hey, they've had a great win or
- we had an apprehension because of the drones.
- So I was just curious to see if you were using them in the same way.
- Yeah, I don't TikTok dance.
- [laughs] I don't know about that.
- I don't think I can speak for Rob, but I just definitely don't.
- [laughs]
- [laughs] Um, all right. So now we're gonna jump into this case
- study.
- Um, if you guys could just give kind of a...
- Set the stage for the video that we're gonna see, and then, um,
- then we'll pop
- into the video, and then we'll kind of dive in deeper to
- some of the things that we
- see in there.
- Sure. Um, so this is, uh, our International Drive area.
- So if any of you come to Florida, you've probably been on I Drive.
- Um, if you've been to Florida in the
- summertime, you've probably waited on I Drive.
- Um, it's a large tourist area, has a lot of very nice
- restaurants, a lot of, um,
- rides that you can go on. Um, they have the Orlando Eye there.
- That's our International Drive area.
- It is a big economic producer for Central Florida.
- So the video you're gonna see occurred at a hotel, um, on
- International Drive. Um, it is a hotel.
- It's probably one of the biggest hotels right there on I Drive.
- Um, and I will say this going into this video,
- there is a male that, uh,
- he's obviously having a moment of crisis that you'll see from the video.
- Um, the gentleman got the help that he needed.
- Um, I mean, he's a human American. We wanna make sure that, you know, that,
- that everybody understands that we got that individual the help
- that he needed.
- Um, he barricaded himself in the hotet- hotel room on the 18th floor.
- So you have all of International Drive, you have this large hotel, you have this
- individual having a moment of crisis on the 18th floor, and then, uh, we were
- having little to no productive communication with the individual.
- Yeah, I think, uh, just before we jump into this video here
- in a second, um,
- I think, you know, we've all been in hotels before.
- We all know that once you're in that hallway, all you're seeing
- is the hotel door
- itself. We can't actually see anything that's
- happening in the room.
- So this video's really going to highlight the benefit of having that drone to be
- able to see from a completely different perspective that none of the
- officers had while they were in the hallway.
- So with that, we will go ahead and play the video.
- We've all heard the expression that a picture's worth a thousand words.
- But it's, it's even better with drone and law enforcement
- missions.
- If I can provide a watch commander or a high-risk incident commander with
- real-time video of what's actually happening at the scene, then they can
- make more informed and very likely safer decisions for
- everybody involved.
- 911. What is the location of your emergency?
- It is 9801 International Drive.
- All right. And tell me what's happening.
- So we have a very violent guest staying in this
- room. He's yelling about killing a demon,
- and he's, like, banging on the walls and stuff.
- We're trying to make contact, but he is not complying.
- [knocking]
- Sheriff's Office.
- Sheriff's Office. Buddy, open up.
- So we responded, tried to establish communication with this
- individual, but it
- was clear that the subject was obviously having a moment of crisis.
- Let's just walk through it, okay?
- We're here to help you, all right?
- [banging]
- There was some concerns for his safety and the wellbeing of the guest inside the
- hotel. So to provide an advantage to develop a
- strategy
- where we could get him the assistance he needs, we deployed a drone.
- So sir, we do have a drone operator out here.
- Do you wanna see if you can throw that up there so we can get eyes in on
- that
- window? Yeah. 10-4.
- Mentally prepping is a crucial part of being a, a drone operator.
- What resource are you going to be able to provide?
- You wanna be the pinnacle of that resource, I think,
- as a drone pilot to an
- evolving situation.
- Where... You see that guy moving? That's him.
- So he's pretty much knocked out a lot of the window then it looks like.
- Just signal 14. I have eyes on him with the drone outside.
- He's got, like, a shower rod. Now he's hitting the window.
- Oh, I think he actually is gonna break it.
- Hey, if you want a view of him, I just sent it to your email,
- the live link.
- We were able to provide real-time live streaming as to what was
- occurring inside of that room 18 stories up.
- We have a subject in there with, in crisis.
- We have a drone now outside that's providing video stream to...
- The deputies are gonna make entry in, into that room.
- All right. Stand back on the-
- Oh, he's banging on this window. Yeah
- He's just trying to barricade that now.
- Yeah, try to move stuff over.
- That-
- He's got a desk and, like, a chair.
- At the front door.
- At the front door? Okay. And then out the side door he's gonna come
- out to us.
- One of the dangerous or most scariest things to do
- is go into a blind room where
- you don't know where somebody is. So knowing that there's now a tool that's
- able to
- provide me that sort of information that I can get to my phone and see
- live i- is, is, is crucial.
- And there's literally a yellow trail. I think that's your trespass.
- So it looks like that there is a space-
- It's your trespass
- ... and then the barricade is past the front door.
- We're not sure if he's trying to start, like, something on fire in there, so start
- working on breaching. Through observations utilizing the drone,
- that the subject
- was about to start lighting the hotel room on fire, and that's when we had to make
- the decision to go inside the room.
- No way.
- [banging]
- Show
- yourself,
- man. Come on, get back here. [banging] [glass shatters] Show yourself.
- [beep]
- Calling for more officers.
- In our...
- Hard.
- [banging] Whoa, that's something else.
- [banging]
- Come on, come on. Go.
- He's in here.
- Go, go.
- The situation concluded with the deputies able to make
- entry into the room and take the subject into custody
- or at least get
- him the help that he was needing at that time.
- So get him to a location where he's safe, the visitors in the hotel are
- safe, and, and getting him o- out of that situation.
- All right. Uh, I think that video so clearly
- illustrates the importance of having these different perspectives and these
- views that you otherwise wouldn't have.
- Um, anything specific that you wanna talk about?
- I know I would like to ask you about, um, the importance of the live streaming.
- And so, uh, with Skydio drones, you have access to what we call Ready
- Link, and
- that means any time the drone is up, you can really quickly share a
- QR code or a hyperlink that enables anybody to view
- the live stream from the drone. And it doesn't have to be within your
- agency.
- If you were working on something on a task force or a multi-agency,
- uh, incident, you could share it with them as well.
- Doesn't require any type of login.
- So, um, that's what they were viewing on the cellphone, correct,
- in the hallway?
- That's correct.
- Yeah. And can you just speak to the importance
- of having that, like, on your
- cellphone in your pocket to be able to see what's going on in the room instead
- of just kind of hearing for radio updates, but actually having that
- visibility?
- Well, yeah, Norine. I, I think let's look at the situation,
- take the drone out of
- the equation. Let's take the live streaming out of the
- equation, and what do you
- have? You have the potential... We have a potential to have a helicopter
- up there.
- Um, but the helicopter is not able to orbit
- or, uh, able to hover. It's gonna have to maintain a orbit.
- Um, camera, you know, uh, moving around up
- there in the helicopter. So that would present the first, uh,
- challenge
- in that situation if we didn't have the drone.
- Add the drone in the equation, you can obviously see that we
- were able to get
- the deputies. Because, uh, as I, as I spoke earlier, you know,
- deputy safety is one
- of the main critical things, uh, with the, uh, with the drone.
- They're able to see now what this guy is, where in the room he is,
- and then they're able to, to develop the strategy, um,
- that they needed to,
- um, to get into that room to, uh, to get, get that man the help he needed.
- Yeah. I think it's a, a super compelling video all the way
- around just, um,
- pairing the body cam footage with the live stream, uh, and the drone feeds.
- Um, I think it makes for a really compelling
- case and is the
- exact reason that drones should be moving out of these specialized units and
- into patrol operations so that everyone goes home safe at the end of
- the night.
- Yeah. The feed-
- Um-
- ... is, is a critical part. So, and like I said, you know, before,
- before we even
- started this, I was on... watching on my computer the feed,
- you know, helping
- another deputy trying to find, you know, a guy in the woods.
- Um, so yeah, the, the feed is, uh, was definitely, um,
- definitely the top of that, that situation there.
- And, and Norine-
- Yeah, excellent
- ... uh, what this, what this video also showed was...
- I've, I've spoken to many of the people
- that were involved in that incident that
- night, um, and there was initially some concern that the
- individual had a gun. Uh, there was some, some witness testimony
- that he was holding something out the window that appeared to be a gun.
- Uh, and we would not have been able to, uh, likely negate that
- without the use of the drone. 'Cause, 'cause as Mike was, was, uh, starting to
- allude to, the camera on the helicopter would have a
- very difficult
- time, uh, seeing through that window with the angle.
- Uh, and then the orbiting part, you're only gonna get that
- window potentially at the right angle for a very
- brief moment of the 360-degree orbit, whereas the drone can sit there and
- park, uh, on a stable platform,
- you know, for the, for basically the length of the battery.
- Uh, and that was, that was very critical to, uh, see what he was
- doing inside the room, what weapons he may or may not have.
- Uh, in this case, it was a, a shower rod, and we never saw the gun.
- Um, but we also more importantly saw the
- barricades.
- Which types of barricades was he using, which doors was he barricading, which door
- is gonna be better for us to go into.
- And you're essentially getting, um,
- a, a view of the room before any operators
- even enter the room.
- Yeah. I think, uh, another thing with drones
- is they're providing, um, you know,
- all the responders with the time and distance they need to make the right
- decisions
- instead of just running in blindly as to the point that was made in the video.
- Um, you know, unfortunately, uh, working in Las Vegas, I had a lot of
- friends that were seriously injured because they were in a foot
- pursuit and jumping a wall and didn't know that the suspect
- was waiting for them
- on the other side of the wall. And so, um, or anything similar to that.
- So when you have a drone in the air, it just gives you the ability to kind of
- stop
- for a second, wait for that information, make the appropriate
- tactical decisions to go in. And again, this is just for the improvement of safety
- for both sides of it, right? For that individual's safety, that you
- were able to
- get him out and get him the help he needed, as well as for all of those
- who responded to that scene.
- Um, we are gonna jump into some questions, so if you have any questions, please
- feel free to throw them in the box right now.
- Um, I will start with some of them that are already in here,
- and the first one is:
- do you use any programs for accident reconstruction?
- Do we use any programs? So I know we have a, a Pix4D
- account. Um, but do we, um... We don't really
- do any accident reconstruction. I know our forensics girl...
- Well, let me back that up. I know our forensics, um, unit does
- utilize, uh, FARO. That they're really big into FARO with
- using, um,
- the 3D, um, parts there. In regards to our
- patrol guys, um, they, they don't, they don't use the, the 3D,
- um, option or accident reconstruction.
- Nora, we're, we're... I can tell you we're not the best agency
- to ask about
- accident investigations. We just recently started working basic
- accidents. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is a,
- is one of very few agencies in
- the state of Florida that has not worked traffic crashes for,
- for
- decades. And literally we just started as an agency
- working them
- this year.
- Uh, and even then, they're minor crashes with no injuries.
- Um, a- and we're still partnering with our,
- with our, our main agency, Florida
- Highway Patrol, to work the crashes.
- So if you're talking about THIs or significant crashes, uh, no,
- we, we do not do those. We will take evidence photos of
- agency-involved crashes
- and significant crime scenes. I, I, you know, besides the Pix4D, I
- don't know how they're reconstructing them, but we don't do the crashes
- that this,
- this, uh, person's probably asking about.
- Yeah. That's very interesting. Um, I can speak to, uh, our drones at
- least being used for crime and crash.
- Um,
- Skydio has an app called 3D Scan, which enables the drone to
- autonomously fly and capture images that you can use for, uh,
- 2D map capture to create that foundation for your diagram.
- Um, you can use them to complete
- photogrammetry, so to create that 3D
- model similar to the FARO laser scans that they mentioned.
- And then also, um, it will create a 3D model on board the
- controller
- for you. And so again, it's autonomous.
- You kind of just set your pillars of the area that you want to capture data.
- It does a quick check of that area, and then it goes off, it does its thing,
- and
- then it comes back. Um, and those images can integrate
- into all different kinds of photogrammetry software. Pix4D for sure.
- Um, the FaroZone software as well for
- photogrammetry.
- And then, uh, you know, you can use that as the basis for all of your
- reconstruction.
- Um, how did you develop your drone policy, and what resources did you
- use?
- Well, Mike has a very good collection of
- individuals.
- Uh, we obviously networked quite a bit. Uh, we compared other policies.
- Uh, but as probably many of you know, uh, this is fairly new.
- Um, a lot of our policy is, is based straight out of the Florida law.
- Uh, what we can and cannot deploy on is literally cut and pasted,
- uh, from our state statute. Uh, we collaborated with, uh,
- several other agencies, uh, in Florida to have some local
- policies. Uh, and it's, it's, it's a, it's definitely a work in
- progress. Uh, I believe we've changed it three times
- probably in
- 18 months. Uh, minor tweaks here and there, but, um, there's,
- there's definitely been some changes even from the original version.
- Yeah, I will say, um, fortunately, there's a lot of collaboration in the
- public
- safety community, especially in law enforcement.
- So all of our agencies that are flying drones,
- they kind of just share ideas and
- policies and, um, they kind of all pull from each other.
- So if you are looking to start a drone program and you're looking to start
- developing policies, uh, there are a lot of resources out there to help
- you.
- Um, I'm guessing that this is specific to this incident in the
- hotel, but how many drones did you deploy, and how long were they in the air?
- So we deployed one drone, um, into this situation.
- Each deputy has three batteries. The n- the, the air was actually pretty
- still that night, so, um, that deputy made it through three, uh, all
- three of the batteries before the incident finally came to an end.
- And flight time on a battery is about 40, close to 40 minutes.
- Really depends on pilot behavior and weather.
- But, um, he was able to push through all those
- batteries.
- So, and we have inverters in the cars, so we can actually...
- Uh, I have a little rule that I tell the, teach the guys.
- I'm like, "Hey, uh, don't be dirty.
- Come back at 30," which is 30% of your battery,
- you need to start coming back.
- Um, and, uh, we've found that as long as that battery hits the
- charger,
- um, by the time they cycle through the
- batteries to get back to that battery, that
- battery's usually at full charge ready to go, as long as they kind of
- follow that rule.
- So-
- Just tell me you have that quote on a sticker somewhere in their
- car in the
- [laughs] in case.
- I had to tattoo it.
- I love that.
- So, you know. [laughs]
- [laughs] Um, this question is specifically kind of
- about regulatory, but can you talk about, um, how you are operating as
- far as any potential waivers or a COA?
- So no, we presently do not operate under a COA.
- We operate under Part 107.
- But as, I think as DFR starts coming onto online,
- um, as we heard, New York City was able to, to get a, uh,
- you know, an FAA waiver on, on theirs. Uh, they had to do it under a COA.
- However, they do fall under the Mode C veil,
- and we fall under the Mode C veil here
- in Central Florida. So I think that process is actually gonna be
- pretty simple. Um, but, uh, and we'll probably have to go into a COA
- at
- that point. But all, all of our pilots fly under 107.
- Yeah. Excellent. Um, yeah, and thanks for bringing up, uh,
- New York City Police
- Department. So their recent waiver was for, um,
- uh, BVLOS operations without a VO, um,
- and without the use of radar at 200 feet, um, AGL and
- 50 feet shielded. So, um, yeah, now that they've gotten that, I'm sure
- it will be easier for other agencies to follow suit.
- But just the way the world is trending with drone as first responder,
- we should
- see a lot more of that here in the near future.
- Um, and I really just wanted to touch on, just because it's kind of, you know, not
- necessarily, uh, related to this particular webinar
- but a recent
- event. Unfortunately, um, the state of Florida was hit with the
- devastating Hurricane Milton. Uh, were you involved in any of those rescue
- efforts or search efforts? And, um, how did you deploy drones, if
- you were?
- So that's a funny story. Uh, I was at Ascend, and, uh, I was told, "Hey,
- when you get back, we're probably gonna be deployed to go,
- uh, work the first
- hurricane." Um, you know, it was interesting.
- I met a captain up there from Asheville, uh, who's, uh, you know,
- obviously the Asheville took a, a brutal punch from this, uh, hurricane.
- Um, and he had no anticip- no expectation that it
- was gonna turn out the way that
- it, it was. He's like, "Hey, you're gonna be busy for the next few
- weeks," you
- know, while we were having breakfast.
- It's like, "Yeah, I kinda think we are." Um, I know when,
- um,
- uh, Ian came through, we were deployed down there.
- We did a lot of flying over there, a lot of looting, um, issues, um, when
- Ian first came through. So I kind of expected something similar to
- what
- Ian was. Um, I get off. Uh, told, "Hey, basically, when you
- get off the plane, you're gonna be shipped out." So I get
- back into town.
- That doesn't come to, uh, fruition.
- But the- about a week after, they said, "Hey, we're gonna go up, and we're gonna
- help, uh, near the, uh, the big bend of Florida." So I
- was prepared to go up
- there. Um, then they gave us the orders, and I
- s- I text the, uh, the supervisor. I'm like, "Hey,
- are you aware there's another
- storm coming?" Um, apparently they weren't aware of that.
- And then that's when, uh, we, we learned of Milton, so
- that got canceled.
- Central Florida overall did... fared fairly well, um,
- with Milton. And I've been... I was born and raised here in, uh,
- in Orlando, so
- I've seen my share of hurricanes in Central Florida.
- Um, I said we, w- you know, I say we fared pretty well.
- Did go out for a little bit after the storm to do some flying, um, to
- check on some of our facilities, but, uh, they weathered pretty well.
- Um, overall we did, we did pretty good.
- So no, we didn't really have to get deployed.
- Now I say that.
- I'll probably get a text after this conversation like, "Hey,
- be ready to go because
- we're gonna go relieve the West Coast," but we'll see.
- So as of right now, we have not, though.
- Okay. Yeah, I know a lot of, um... You know,
- we had a lot of our internal folks go
- out and kind of help in those efforts.
- Um, and they were doing a lot of kind of
- post-storm assessment
- and mapping, um, as well as some search
- and recovery efforts
- as well.
- Um, another question and then we'll probably wrap this
- up. How do you, uh, currently recruit deputies
- to be drone pilots and then follow through with
- that necessary training?
- Um, well, I...
- W- with recruiting, that's just being out in the field,
- working with the s- g- uh,
- with the guys. Um, you know, we, we have a internal newsletter that we'll,
- we'll share where we kind of highlight.
- And, um, I like to spotlight some of the deputies
- so that they can, you know, share
- with their friends or their coworkers, you know, "Hey, this is what the drone
- program's doing." Um, they see the videos.
- I put invitations out there for them to go do other events.
- Um, for instance, um, SWAT Roundup is next week.
- And, you know, I sent an email out, "Hey, if anybody wants to help out with, uh,
- Roundup, the, uh, public information office wants some cool
- drone shots."
- So that helps get them the training.
- Um, and, you know, they get to see their work on display.
- Um, and I think if they can see that and be proud of that, I think it develops
- motivation. And then when they talk to new trainers or, uh,
- or new
- trainees, um, and share that experience, I think that kind of plants the seeds.
- Um, I will say that some of our pilots are also FTOs, field training
- officers. So these new guys, who are very influential, you could sell them
- a flashlight for $1,000 if they had it, um, you know, they, they would
- want to be part of that. So, um, and I think they can see
- that that's something
- like they can build their career on.
- Um, so I think the combination of being out
- there, seeing their work, and then
- planting the seeds I, I think are the three things
- that could really help us, um,
- with the recruiting and retention.
- And Noreen, we also do a lot of information sharing.
- Um, we, we host, uh, an informational meeting 'cause a lot of
- these individuals have never flown a drone.
- Uh, they may think they're interested.
- They may like the idea, uh, but I don't know if I can do it.
- I don't know what it entails. Uh, so in addition to the
- sector recommendations that come from the sector captains, uh,
- we also
- hold an informational meeting, uh, where we'll actually set up a very basic,
- um, obstacle course and just a familiarization.
- You're gonna get some stick time.
- You're gonna fly the drone. Uh, you're gonna be with another instructor,
- uh, and, and figure out whether this is something that you're interested in.
- We're gonna convey, uh, what the policies are.
- We're gonna convey the laws.
- We're gonna convey what you can deploy on, uh, and ag- and, and set our
- expectations. We want you to know, uh, this is something we want
- you to get out of the car. We want you to get, uh, it deployed.
- It's not gonna be, uh, a specialty weapon or a specialty tool
- that you're just gonna wait for the big call to come and, and, and
- respond to that. No, we actually want you to be self-initiated,
- uh,
- and, and seek out the calls that are appropriate to respond to.
- Uh, that is an excellent program to have.
- I think there's nothing worse than, um,
- not wanting to volunteer for something 'cause you don't quite know what you're
- getting into. So the fact that you give everyone the ability to just
- come check it
- out and make their decision that way, uh, that sounds like a great idea.
- I think I probably would've volunteered for more things [laughs] if I knew what I
- was getting into before I did it.
- Um, okay. I think we are about to wrap it up.
- Steve, I'm gonna pass it back over to you.
- Okay. Thanks very much, panel. Really great, great presentation.
- A lot of great information. So thank you very much.
- Um, we want to express our appreciation to our
- sponsors, Skydio, for being here and
- sponsoring today's webinar. So thanks very much to Skydio.
- And if you haven't had a chance, go to the related content tab there,
- the paper
- clip icon, and you can download some handouts from
- them.
- Um, unfortunately got to wrap up here, but Mike, Rob, and Noreen, I want to thank
- you for a great presentation. Thank you so much today.
- Thank you very much.
- Yeah. Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Appreciate everyone for hanging out.
- I thank both of you for chatting with me today about your drone program, and I hope
- everyone stays safe.
- Absolutely.
- Thank you.
- Have a great day.
- Have a great rest of your day, everyone. It's time for us to wrap up.
- Thanks for joining us.
Watch Time
55 Mins 27 Secs
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