{"id":304272,"date":"2026-06-11T20:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304272\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:00:07","slug":"new-drone-as-first-responder-program-helps-locate-missing-autistic-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304272\/","title":{"rendered":"New Drone as First Responder program helps locate missing autistic woman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The<a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/topic\/Port%20St.%20Lucie%20Police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Port St. Lucie Police Department<\/a>&#8216;s new Drone as First Responder (DFR) program launched today, helping locate a missing autistic woman before she had the chance to enter a nearby canal.<\/p>\n<p>The DFR program is designed to communicate directly with the computer-aided dispatch system. As emergency calls are received, trained personnel can remotely deploy the drones, reaching the scene within seconds.<\/p>\n<p>The PSLPD says the drone located the woman using a live video feed, directing officers to her exact location before reuniting her with her family.<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-opinion-school-boards-must-allow-release-time-for-religious-instruction-accommodate-release-time-programs-florida-law-permission-religious-education-off-campus-faith-based-learning-fairness-logistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Florida Attorney General: School boards must allow release time for religious instruction<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This program is about saving lives, and on day one, that&#8217;s exactly what it helped us do,&#8221; says PSLPD Chief Leo Niemczyk.<\/p>\n<p>As a part of Testing and Evaluation (T&amp;E), the drones have responded to 17 separate missions from three drones throughout the city on it&#8217;s first day.  Once fully operational, they hope to increase the number of drones to six.<\/p>\n<p>The PSLPD says they remain committed to leveraging innovative technology to enhance public safety.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Technology will never replace our officers,&#8221; says Chief Niemczyk. &#8220;But when technology allows us to locate a vulnerable person faster, improve officer safety and provide better service to our residents, it&#8217;s an investment worth making.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 The Port St. Lucie Police Department&#8216;s new Drone as First Responder (DFR)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-304272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}