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A drone over the city of Redmond, Wash., where the police department uses the technology to aid first responders. (Redmond PD Photo)
The Redmond (Wash.) Police Dept. is partnering with Seattle-based drone provider Brinc and California-based Skydio as part of the department’s Drones as First Responders (DFR) program.
The announcement comes a week after Redmond PD became the first agency in Washington state to receive FAA approval to operate drones beyond an observer’s visual line of sight.
Two docking stations from Brinc and three from Skydio will be added throughout the city to improve emergency response times and allow minimal downtime due to continuous battery charging.
Redmond PD first started using drones for patrols in 2019, and in April of this year the department launched its DFR program with a drone flown remotely for dispatched calls. The drones can arrive anywhere in the city in about 90 seconds, live-streaming video to a pilot who can assess the situation and cancel ground response if appropriate.
Drones are used to aid in suspect apprehension, to document crime and crash scenes, search for lost or missing persons, assess structural fires, and safely clear the interior of buildings, according to the agency.
In a video posted on Instagram, below, Redmond PD shows how a drone was used to respond to a call about a man with a gun at an apartment complex.
Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe called the partnerships a “transformative step forward” in how the department will respond to emergencies. And in an interview with KING 5 last week, he called FAA approval “monumental” for agencies dealing with staffing shortages and for what the DFR program could mean to the greater Seattle region.
In May, Brinc announced the release of its new “Responder” drone and docking station, designed specifically for DFR operations. The company said at the time that more than 150 agencies were on track for city-wide 911 drone deployments using the company’s technology.
In August, Brinc announced that it was integrating advanced radar technology from Kirkland, Wash.-based Echodyne into its system to “add a layer of safety and reliability” while providing a path for Brinc’s customers to gain FAA approval.
Brinc’s new Responder drone and robotic Responder station are designed to help police officers respond to 911 calls and, in certain situations, eliminate the need for human response. (Brinc Photo)
Brinc also created a new software platform called LiveOps for managing and monitoring drone fleets, with live streaming, real-time maps, communications, and evidence storage.
Founder and CEO Blake Resnick, a 2023 GeekWire “Uncommon Thinker,” was inspired to start Brinc in aid of first responders after a mass shooting in his hometown of Las Vegas killed more than 50 people in 2017.
Resnick called Redmond PD “a forward-thinking agency dedicated to innovation in policing” and said the collaboration “represents an exciting step in enhancing public safety both in Redmond and throughout the country by setting a new standard in DFR.”
Redmond, the longtime headquarters location of Microsoft, is home to about 80,000 people.
The department said drones are used only for call response, not for proactive patrols or general surveillance. When responding to a call, the drone’s camera is aimed at the horizon, not at people or buildings below, to protect community members’ privacy.
