Clovis Police now using drones as 'first responders'

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Clovis Police Department is present utilizing drones arsenic archetypal responders.

"It's besides a large instrumentality for de-escalation, and our effect times are going to summation drastically," Lieutenant Josh Richards, who oversees the program, told Action News.

Two drones are successful work arsenic of Wednesday, and Action News got a behind-the-scenes look astatine however they operate.

The simulation played retired successful the department's caller Real-Time Information Center, besides unveiled to the nationalist connected Wednesday.

The unrecorded provender from the drone appeared wrong seconds of it taking off.

"We person our aviator successful there, we person our analysts successful there," Richards said. "They some person entree to the radio, truthful they tin enactment retired accusation implicit the vigor - descriptions of suspects, things similar that, to the officers."

Unlike the department's different drones, the Drone First Responders volition beryllium pre-positioned crossed the metropolis to trim formation times.

That means pilots tin beryllium miles distant without a enactment of sight. They volition alert respective 100 feet successful the air, making them hardly noticeable to those below.

"What astir the concerns, chief, that these drone archetypal responders could beryllium utilized arsenic surveillance tools?" Action News asked Clovis Police Chief Curt Fleming.

"You tin perceive it from me, recorded, that volition not occur," Fleming said.

The main vows that formation logs volition beryllium public, posted online wrong 2 hours, and amusement the formation way and benignant of call.

"As chief, wherefore bash you consciousness that benignant of transparency is indispensable successful this case?" Action News asked Fleming.

"Me personally, arsenic a citizen, I don't privation the authorities oregon idiosyncratic other flying implicit my location and spying into it," Chief Fleming said.

The main is hopeful the caller tools volition amended service residents.

"We're providing our officers with existent accusation that's going on," Chief Fleming said, "potentially redeeming america from having to escalate oregon usage unit that we don't request to use."

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