ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said his officers will be safer when responding to calls because they now have eyes in the sky.
Currently, the department has 11 drones and 37 officers that are trained to act as pilots. Chief Holloway said in no way are these drones going to replace the officers being active at the scene, but they act as a tool in their tool belt to get information in real time.
The St. Petersburg Police Department is expanding their drone program and using technology to respond to calls and gather information, in real time.
“When we get a call into our comms center, these detectives in this room can decide if they’re going to launch that drone to go to that priority call,” Chief Holloway said.
The PD has been using drones for SWAT calls and traffic investigations since 2019, but the drones took on a new role after the 2024 hurricanes.
“We couldn’t get out to see everything, so we said why not launch the drones and do feedback to the Emergency Operations Center,” the Chief said.
Officers can use single deploy drones right out of their cars. They also have drones deployed from their remove Hive where the drones can travel within three miles. This works in collaboration with the department’s Real Time Intelligence Center, RTIC.
“What’s a new capability we have is that my two pilots located here can remotely take control of the single deploy drone and fly it for that officer, freeing up the officer to do police work,” said Sergeant Robert Long, supervisor for the RTIC.
Mostly, the drones go to high-priority calls, like felonies, or assist with finding missing children or seniors.
The department said not only are these drones a game changer, but they have had an immediate impact.
“To increase officer safety, to improve efficiency in the way we are handling the call from the front end, and then the evidence that it helps for in court later,” Sergeant Long said.
Hundreds of feet in the sky, the men and women behind the badge have extra protection, so they have a better idea of the situation they’re walking into.
“Instead of an officer being stuck in traffic and taking them maybe 10-15 minutes to get there, now that drone can get there within minutes, feeding those officers intel and letting the victims know we’re there on scene and we’re gathering information,” Chief Holloway said.
The plan is the department will expand their drone program in the next two years by adding four more additional Hives across the city.