SPOKANE, Wash. — It has taken years of planning, but the Spokane Police Department (SPD) now has the green light to add a new long-range drone to its drone program.
The Autel Dragonfish, purchased after city council approval in late July, will likely take flight in September after officers train on it.
Captain Matthew Cowles has headed the drone program for six years. He says the current outdoor drones can fly about five blocks from the operator on the ground. The Dragonfish will be able to span the entire city.
"Very capable of flying into emergency situations faster than a patrol car," Cowles said.
With its six-foot wingspan and rechargeable battery, the drone can fly like a plane and stay airborne for about two hours — four times longer than SPD's current fleet of outdoor drones.
It does, however, come with the hefty price tag of more than $164,000.
"Our drone is completely funded by the grant," Cowles said of a federal criminal justice grant.
The department will have to use seizure funds in the general budget for training to fly the drone in Texas.
Cowles acknowledges the privacy concerns of police drones, saying his drone unit is closely monitored so the machines aren't misused. Training is continuous, he adds, with strict guidelines on how the drones can be used. He says they have a specific job to do, like responding to pursuits or missing persons, not random surveillance.
"The primary focus of the Dragonfish is not to be airborne all of the time. It's to respond to very specific incidents that pose a danger and a threat to our community," Cowles said. "We'd be able to program in the route of Bloomsday and it would be able to fly that route safely and respond to hot spots if there were any issues."
Cowles adds using drones can de-escalate a situation that may put people or officers at risk, such as a high-speed pursuit. Without lights and sirens in the rearview, he says, a suspect may be more inclined to drive at slower speeds or pull over, with the drone keeping an eye from above so dispatchers can tell police exactly what is happening.
Cowles says the drone program has already proven itself, with officers from patrol to crowd control holding it in high regard. Cowles points to a video shot from above of a suspect hiding in a wooded area, out of sight from deputies but not from the drone's camera.
"He surrenders immediately, leaving a firearm behind," he said. "That's exactly what its purpose is, to provide support, overwatch for teams like this contacting dangerous subjects. I think there's a lot of excitement about the potential capabilities of it. And I think there's still a little disbelief we were able to get a funding source and make it happen."