Drones could help Austin Police Dept. as it looks to hire new officers

Drones could be used to help Austin Police Dept.

As the Austin Police Department works to hire hundreds of new officers, the APD Chief says she is interested in supplementing those job openings with drones. FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis has the details in this week's CrimeWatch.

AUSTIN, Texas - As the Austin Police Department works to hire hundreds of new officers, Chief Lisa Davis says she is interested in supplementing with drones.

What they're saying:

"I want the Austin Police Department to be on the cutting edge of technology," Chief Davis says.

The future may be drones. Other departments are already utilizing them.

"We have a high volume of drones in patrol," Dallas Police Department Assistant Chief Catrina Shead says.

The Dallas Police Department Air Support Unit says drones increase officer safety by exposing unseen dangers.

"It allows them to get in close to a situation without any fear of harm to themselves," drone expert Gene Robinson says.

The backstory:

Drone video from an officer involved shooting in Austin from September 2022 shows just how close a drone can get.

"I look at a couple of the officer-involved shootings that we’ve had here, officers killed in the line of duty, that could have been saved had we had a drone be able to go in first and see what we have," Chief Davis says.

The Arlington Police Chief says they’ve been trying out drones to enhance their operations.

"Our officers respond, not knowing whether a person has a gun or not, but our drones can fly to that location, get real time intelligence being able to identify whether the person has a gun or not, and providing that intelligence to our officers," Arlington Police Department Chief Al Jones says.

Drone experts say it can also dramatically decrease the time it takes to respond to calls.

"They can place drones all over the city and when they get a call, they can literally respond with the drone in minutes, which increases their ability to react," Robinson says.

The Austin Police Department reports being down almost 330 officers and staff. It is the number one issue in the department right now and Chief Davis says drones could be beneficial.

"We are down significantly in people, and it's going to take us a few years to get those numbers back to where they need to be, so how do we move forward where we're good stewards of not only the money of this city, but we're good stewards of addressing things that are important to the community. Drones could do that for us," Chief Davis says.

"It certainly does stretch those limited resources even further," Robinson said.