The City of Bridgeport is negotiating with Flock Safety, a provider of drone technology to support more effective police and emergency response.
“These tools will allow the city to have eyes and ears at locations before officers or first responders arrived on the scene of 911 calls or other emergencies,” said Danielle Wedderburn, director of communications for the city.
“The city is finalizing negotiations. Current terms will initially be at no cost and then will be supplemented by a state grant for $500,000,” she said, adding that the city looked to Scottsdale, Ariz., “as an example to help determine impact, benefit and use of drones in policing and emergency management.”
Police Chief Roderick Porter foresees a positive impact. “The drones will provide police officers responding to calls for service with an aerial view of the scene prior to and as they arrive upon scenes, which helps with locating scenes, individual and/or vehicles.”
The National League of Cities reports that there are about 1,400 cities in the U.S. currently using drones to inspect infrastructure, map heat loss from buildings in winter as well as for safety responses.
From FCN partner Easton Courier.
