Montgomery Co.'s Eyes In The Sky Drone Fleet Gets New Look

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — The drone fleet managed by the Montgomery County Police Department is getting a fresh update after authorities detected "significant" improvements to service calls since it was first launched.

The department said at a Tuesday news conference that its Drone as First Responder program would be upgrading to 12 dock-based drones that will be located at six sites throughout the county. Each of the locations will have two drones, one of which will be geared for nighttime operations.

The new drones will also allow the police department to see its coverage increase from 30 square miles to 85 square miles.

'Great Efficiency'

Since the program was launched in 2023, the police agency has used the technology in more than 5,000 service calls.

In that time, Police Chief Marc Yamada said the program helped resolve numerous calls without the need to dispatch police officers. Preliminary findings determined that, on average, the drones reached the scene of an incident about 75% faster than officers.

See video of the new drones.

"These enhancements are about one thing: getting our first responders the most accurate information faster so that they can make safer and more informed decisions," Yamada said.

Authorities said the shift to dock-based drones means the department won't be held up by maintenance or labor-intensive issues and will be ready at a moment's notice.

Capt. Tony Galladora, who serves as the director of the operational intelligence division, described the advancement as signaling "great efficiency" for the department overall.

'It's Not Patrolling'

Addressing privacy and transparency concerns, Galloradora said all flight logs would be published in the same manner that officers currently file footage from body cameras.

The drones, he said, will only be used in response to service calls or to assist police officers. The technology would not be tapped to actively patrol or surveil residents.

Officials also indicated that the drones are not fitted with facial recognition or microphones, adding that the cameras are always facing the horizon when being deployed.

"The drone's not out there looking. It's not patrolling. It's not trying to identify, which is what people worry about," Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said.

"It is not a search and go find something use."

Within the department, a total of 33 officers have been trained to use the drone technology. Authorities noted that the agency had hired three full-time professional civilian pilots to join the program.