SLCPD to expand drone first responder program as it eyes safety, efficiency

SALT LAKE CITY — Police said Wednesday they intended to expand their drone “first responder” program in the coming weeks after seeing positive resolutions to cases as well as improved efficiency.

According to officials, the Salt Lake City Police Department will have four drone docking stations positioned around the city by the first week in June with plans to increase that number to seven.

“We think it’s going to be a good program,” said Chief Brian Redd during an interview with KSL. “We think we’re going to find some efficiencies for the city, a better response — not send officers when we don’t have to and send social workers, for example.”

Redd said that,  already, the drones had assisted in calls about dangerous weapons and assault suspects while also providing valuable intelligence when officers worked to rescue a suicidal woman from the edge of a parking garage.

In addition, Redd said the department noted gains in efficiency in February.

“We were able to clear over 50% of the calls without sending an officer — just sending a drone quickly,” Redd said.

Redd underscored the drones were not being used to patrol or proactively police.

Instead, he said they were only being used to respond to calls.

“The drone many times will arrive ahead of the officer and can then start providing situational awareness,” he said.

The chief said what the drone sees can lead police to either speed up or slow down their response or change their type of response to a given situation.

“We see it as an alternate response to officers in many cases,” Redd said.

Det. Colby Jeppsen, one of three full-time drone pilots in the department’s four-man unit, said when a call comes into dispatch it can be passed to them to deploy a drone depending on the circumstances.

He said within just a few minutes, the drone can be over the site of the emergency or potential crime, surveying the area and feeding a live picture back to responding officers on their phones or laptops.

Jeppsen went through a response on April 7 when police received a report of possible shots fired at an apartment complex.

Within a couple of minutes, the drone was surveying the area and the apartment where the caller believed the shots had originated, and operators were relaying that information to officers making their way to the site.

“They were building their plan in their heads as we’re flying and have that direct communication so that they get everything that they want prior to walking up to a scene where someone might have just been shot,” Jeppsen said.

Jeppsen said officers were prepared at the door with a shield and a less-lethal weapon, though the circumstance proved to be a false alarm.

“It turned into what we call a ‘no case,’” Jeppsen explained. “It was just a misunderstanding of what someone else heard.”

Jeppsen said he believed the drones would continue to make a difference.

“Absolutely, I believe drones will save lives,” Jeppsen said. “(Officers) are able to see and strategically put their vehicles where it’s going to keep them safe, so they can keep everybody else safe.”

Redd maintained transparency is important to the department with its drones.

He said every time a first responder drone is deployed, SLCPD logs a case number, the reason for the deployment, the entire flight path and the reason for deploying the drone.

The chief added that the department planned to audit the drones’ use.

Department officials also said a public-facing dashboard was also in development.

“Anytime law enforcement uses technology, there are concerns around privacy and surveillance,” Redd said. “We just want to make sure we develop a program that is effective, that provides for that alternative response, so our officers can be deployed appropriately to higher priority calls more quickly.”

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