SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Police Department is exploring a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program that would deploy drones from rooftop stations across the city to arrive at emergency scenes before officers on the ground.
Police Chief Scott Wahl said the department has already presented the proposal to the city's Privacy Advisory Board, which governs San Diego's surveillance ordinance. The next step is city council approval, and the department is hoping to have a pilot project in place after the start of the calendar year.
"Listen, we didn't just jump into this technology on a whim," Scott Wahl said in an in-studio interview with ABC 10News Anchor Jared Aarons.
"We talked a little bit this morning about trying to make sure we have the right amount of police officers, the right funding in our budget, and the right use of technology to be as efficient and effective as we can possibly be."
Wahl said drones and license plate readers are among the technologies the department is evaluating to improve efficiency. Under the DFR program, drones would sit on rooftops at city facilities like police and fire stations. They would fly directly to a call when it comes in, providing overhead footage within a minute to a minute and a half.
"The sooner we have accurate information about what we're responding to, the sooner we can make better decisions, the sooner we can have proper amount of resource allocation, so we're not sending too many officers to a situation where we only need to have one or two," Wahl said.
Wahl said other cities using the technology have seen their call volume reduced by 20 to 30 percent in some areas.
He added, one key benefit is the ability to identify suspects leaving a scene before officers even arrive.
"Often times they're there within a minute, minute and a half. So when a crime is being committed, that call comes in, the goal is to get this drone there so we can see actual suspects leaving. And the responding officers can begin looking for those suspects right away," Wahl said.
The program is modeled after efforts in other cities. Chula Vista pioneered the Drone as First Responder model in 2018, and since then other departments have adopted the technology to improve response efficiency and situational awareness.
Determining the exact number of drones needed to cover San Diego — a significantly larger city than those where the program has already been implemented — is one of the questions the pilot project is designed to answer. Wahl said specific placement will depend on factors including time of flight and battery life, and that the pilot will help the department figure out how many drones are needed and where to position them across the city.
San Diego's airspace is heavily regulated, with military bases, San Diego International Airport, Montgomery Field, Brown Field, and other airports all creating flight restrictions. Wahl said the technology is built to help operators avoid those restricted zones, and that FAA-governed training would be required for all drone operators.
Wahl emphasized that San Diego's approach to the program stands apart from other cities because of its commitment to transparency through the Privacy Advisory Board process.
"San Diego is unique in that we have a Privacy Board that is governed by the surveillance ordinance. We want to make sure in this city that we're utilizing technology in a safe and responsible way." Wahl said.
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