Bellevue Launches Drone as First Responder Pilot

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  Bellevue is launching a one-year drone pilot program“Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Evolving its use of unmanned aerial systems, the City of Bellevue is launching a one-year pilot program this fall that will enable patrol officers to quickly deploy UAS to an incident location, either as part of a police response or at the request of the fire department.”
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  The drone pilot program allows patrol officers to deploy unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to incident locations“Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Evolving its use of unmanned aerial systems, the City of Bellevue is launching a one-year pilot program this fall that will enable patrol officers to quickly deploy UAS to an incident location, either as part of a police response or at the request of the fire department.”
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  The drone pilot program will enable patrol officers to deploy unmanned aerial systems (UAS) before first responders arrive“When a call for service comes in that merits a UAS response, an officer will deploy one to quickly analyze the incident location while officers and firefighters are still en route.”
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  The drone pilot program was approved by the City Council on September 8“The City Council approved funding for the pilot program Sept. 8, with the Bellevue Police Foundation and Apex Systems also contributing funding.”
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  The program will train two officers as pilots“When a call for service comes in that merits a UAS response, an officer will deploy one to quickly analyze the incident location while officers and firefighters are still en route. Video provided by the UAS will help first responders determine what resources they’ll need to effectively, efficiently and safely respond to the call.”
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  The program will train officers to assess situations in real timeNo usable supporting receipt — unverified.
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  The city cites Redmond's 18.8% reduction in unnecessary officer responses as a modelNo usable supporting receipt — unverified.
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  Bellevue aims to improve safety and resource allocation“"The Drone as First Responder program is a true force multiplier for the Bellevue Police Department," said Police Chief Wendell Shirley. "This city resource will empower our officers to respond to calls for service faster, safer and with greater precision across the city. This program ensures we maximize our capabilities and deploy our resources with efficiency."”
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  Drones will only activate during active calls for service“To protect community members’ privacy, the police and fire UAS will only be deployed during a call for service.”
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  Data from the drone program will be subject to retention policies“Any data collected by the city will adhere to local retention policies as well as applicable local and state laws.”
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  A public transparency dashboard will be available for the drone program“Community members will also be able to access a web page with a transparency dashboard to receive UAS operation information.”