PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Police Department’s drone program is showing promise, according to testimony at the department’s budget hearing before City Council on Tuesday.
Amid the fun of the Thanksgiving Day parade last November, one mother was frantic. Her child, with intellectual disabilities, had wandered away. But with a description of the child’s clothing, a drone found the child and officers on the ground were able to reunite them.
“It was a very touching moment,” said Kevin Thomas, the department’s executive director for data analytics and technology.
Thomas said the department’s goal was to make drones first responders, so officers know what’s going on before they arrive at a scene. That’s a couple of years away, though Commissioner Kevin Bethel told Council they’ve already been useful at large events and in serving warrants — primarily to keep officers safe, but recently in making arrests.
“We were doing overwatch for a high risk warrant and we were able to identify a person and take him into custody without further action,” said Bethel.
The department has nine drones so far, but plans to buy more this year. It also needs more pilots.