Over a dozen law enforcement departments in Colorado are planning to dispatch drones instead of officers to respond to specific 911 calls.
The Denver Police Department and several other law enforcement agencies in Colorado plan to dispatch drones instead of officers in situations where drones can provide information about the incident before officers are called to the scene.
The Denver Post reported that in some cases, the drone would be the only response to some incidents if an operator can determine from the air that officers don’t need to respond.
Sgt. Jeremiah Gates, who is in charge of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office, stated, “This really is the future of law enforcement at some point, whether we like it or not.”
Picture this: You call 911 and a drone comes whirring to your door instead of a police officer.
That could soon be a reality along parts of Colorado’s Front Range. https://t.co/rAFGJ5tIG2
— The Denver Post (@denverpost) May 29, 2024
Per The New York Post:
Several local law enforcement agencies in Colorado, including the Denver Police Department (DPD), are planning to start dispatching drones instead of officers to respond to 911 calls.
“This really is the future of law enforcement at some point, whether we like it or not,” Sgt. Jeremiah Gates, who leads the drone unit at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, told The Denver Post.
At least 20 agencies in Colorado’s Front Range already use drone technology for certain tasks, like searching for missing people, tracking fleeing suspects, mapping crime scenes or overhead surveillance during SWAT operations.
Now the sheriff’s office is considering using them to respond to some 911 calls in situations where the drones might be able to provide useful information from the location of an incident before officers are deployed.
Police departments are not the only ones using drones; criminals are using them too.
The Gateway Pundit reported in March that Georgia Law Enforcement authorities arrested 150 people for operating a drone-based operation that smuggled guns, drugs, and cell phones into Georgia prisons.
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