KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Kissimmee’s skies now have a new set of eyes.
The Kissimmee Police Department (KPD) has added six SkyDio drones to its fleet, giving officers an aerial advantage as they work to keep the city safe.
The drones became an official part of KPD’s operations last month. Before launching the program, the department spent the past year training alongside agencies that already had established drone programs, including St. Cloud and Orange County.
“They are assigned to our patrol officers so that every shift, day and night. So, 24/7 coverage,” KPD Sgt. Charles Popp told News 6.
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While a drone is in the air, officers on the ground can view its live images directly from their phones.
Unlike helicopters, the drones can be airborne within minutes and allow officers to cover large areas in a short amount of time.
“Anytime that aerial perspective was needed in the past, we had to wait for an actual helicopter,” Popp explained. “The nice part about these [drones] being assigned to specific patrol officers that are out there in the field is that they can get to that scene a lot quicker.”
Popp said the technology serves as a critical safety tool.
“The biggest priority here is the protection of life, and these allow us to kind of have a force multiplier to provide our officers and our citizens with safety. Being able to get to scenes quickly, provide an aerial view for missing persons or any other kind of exigent or imminent threat to the community,” he said.
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Every flight is recorded, and the footage is placed into evidence. While the drones are capable of being flown remotely, a feature used by neighboring agencies like St. Cloud, KPD says it is currently only deploying them on scene.
“They do have the capability to fly remotely and that’s something that potentially the agency in the future is going to be looking at. It’s kind of a step-by-step process. Our first step is obviously having an officer on the scene who can deploy a drone. But these are capable of remote flight,” Popp said.