NOPD wants drones to answer calls in Vieux Carré

The NOPD is looking to expand how it uses drones, and the New Orleans City Council will take up the issue in a couple of weeks.

Similar to what the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has now, NOPD wants to be able to dispatch a drone to get to the scene of a 911 call.

Former NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas, now a professor of practice in criminal justice at Loyola University, says drones are becoming increasingly common with police departments around the country.

"Drone as a first responder is the future of patrol response," Serpas said.

He said the remote-operated flyers effectively shrink the area that police have to cover on their way to answer a call.

"They put those drones where they can cover the greatest amount of space in time, and get to wherever a call is," Serpas explained. "It might be, you need more police cars than you thought, or it might be, there's nothing here."

Police say the drones won't operate as lingering surveillance bots, and would only be dispatched in response to a call for service.

The French Quarter Management District voted to fund the NOPD's Drone as First Responder program.

The issue is set to go before members of the New Orleans City Council on April 16.