VIDEO: Police in Lenexa are using innovative tools and technology to keep officers and the community safe when responding to emergency calls. The Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program was introduced to Lenexa in March. Itโs being added to the departmentโs already existing drone fleet. โRight now, we believe we are the first in the Kansas City Metro to establish a โDrone as a First Responder Program,โโ Officer Danny Chavez with the Lenexa Police Department said.
It supplies eyes on the scene before officers arrive. The collaboration is with the Lenexa Fire Department, and itโs used within โany callโ where responders think a difference could be made. Drones, though, arenโt new to Lenexa, but having one be deployed remotely is. โWe can get a drone over the scene minutes before an officer arrives and feed real-time information to our dispatchers and our officers,โ Chavez shared.
So far, success has been seen; itโs shortened response times. โWeโve seen two minutes shaved off our response time,โ Chavez said in reference to emergency response calls. There has also been a reduction in response times, on average, by four minutes with non-emergency calls, too. From March to May, this specific drone has been used nearly 130 times. โThat was from everything from a suspicious person wandering in the area, that we wanted to check out before officers got on scene, to car crashes and disturbances and active thefts, etc.,โ Chavez said.
