The Sparks Police Department has a new drone to help officers be more efficient when it comes to response times.
SPD now has three drones, the other two are standard remote-controlled ones. This new drone is stationed in a secret area in the city designed for more violent calls.
The department is looking into using more innovative methods to support its efforts. We've reported on the ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology, and now this drone is another tool in the wheelhouse.
The American-made "Drone as First Responder" program has been used across the country, and Sparks Police Chief Chris Crawforth says it reduces response times by 30 percent.
"There's always ways to be more efficient with policing," he said. "We do see calls that we get to, and it's past tense. So, we get there and nothing has occurred or we're investigating it. One of the big things for us is that having a bird's-eye view within that one-minute time frame is going to reduce our time spent on investigations..."
"Obviously, within that one-minute time frame, that is advancing much faster than calls coming in through dispatch, which is generally a two- to three-minute dispatch time before we start responding."
Sparks Police has used drones for years. This one is docked in an undisclosed area where it's being charged, heated, or cooled depending on the weather.
The drone uses GPS coordinates, is equipped with thermal imaging, and can also see at night.
It can travel up to 36 miles per hour during the day and about 18 at night. It flies about 150 to 200 feet in the air.
However, Chief Crawforth wants to stress that it is only used for calls and not to spy on people.
"The big things are privacy concerns, this is going to calls for service," he said. "Our priority one calls are violent calls. So it may fly over people's homes, but it's going to a call for service — that's when it will be deployed. It's not being deployed to just go out and look for things."
The department says it will adhere to comprehensive privacy protocols, clear operational guidelines, and compliance with local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
Sparks Police just started using the program about a month ago, but it's already helped them last weekend at the Best in the West Rib cook off.
"It was a violent felony that happened, and the suspect had fled on foot," said Sergeant Eddie Wilson, Real Time Information Center, Sparks Police Department. "And so since we were in the air already, we could respond very quickly. We flew the drone just over half a mile, 0.6 miles traveled by the drone to get to the scene. We arrived in 35 seconds."
They located the suspect in just more than a minute.
Officers also say the drone can deter people from committing crimes when used for larger events.
"For example, this weekend we were at the rib cook off," Sergeant Wilson said. "I've been working for Sparks for the last 17 years, and every rib cook off, we've had multiple fights and things like that. This year we had zero. We had a drone up in the air probably 80 to 90% of the time, which acted as a deterrent."
For training, the operators all have to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA. They all work for the Sparks Police Department, and the department currently has eight pilots.
Other than crime, Chief Crawforth says the drone can be used by public works to check out scenes and assess wildfires.
