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Newport News, Virginia is about to start sending drones to 911 calls before officers or firefighters arrive, with some aircraft reaching a scene in under 90 seconds.
The city has eight drones staged at four launch sites, ready to lift off after high-priority calls like a homicide, a shooting, a missing person, or a medical emergency. Roughly 20 police and fire personnel are now certified to fly them. The program goes live next week.
Eight drones launch from four sites across the city
The setup puts two drones at each of four sites spread across Newport News, so a trained pilot can launch the nearest aircraft the moment a priority call lands and stream live video to commanders while ground units are still rolling toward the scene. That head start is the entire point of a drone first responder program.
The aircraft come from Flock Safety, the vendor Newport News confirmed for the program. Flock is best known nationally for its automated license-plate-reader network, and it has moved aggressively into the drone first responder market, making the city part of a fast-growing push by the company into police airspace.
The drones carry thermal imaging alongside live video, which lets a pilot pick out a person in the dark or find the hot spot of a fire before crews are on the ground. Coverage stretches across the city, including Interstate 64 and the James River waterfront…