VIDEOS: El Paso Police Department (EPPD) is now the first in the nation to have received a Class C airspace beyond a visual line of sight within the new drone response program for โpublic safety.โ The announcement was made in a press conference at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, hosted by EPPD, along with the El Paso Fire Department (EPFD) and the El Paso International Airport.
EPPDโs Assistant Chief Humberto Talamantes said drones have been used by the private sector and law enforcement for over a decade. โWe, the El Paso Police Department, started using unmanned aerial systems about five years ago, and we first started using the one drone that we had back then. Keep in mind that technology was not as advanced as it is today, but we did have that one drone. We started using it to monitor large public events, such as parades, demonstrations, marathons, concerts, and everywhere where large crowds would gather. And this was done so that we could quickly address any potential threats to the public, and we can mitigate those,โ Talamantes said.
