LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — The Lima Police Department is preparing to launch a new Drone First Responder program designed to improve emergency response by providing officers with real-time aerial video before they arrive at a scene.
What looked like a UFO being placed on the roof of the Lima Police Department was actually one of two drone pods installed as part of the Drone First Responder program through the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The City of Lima was one of nine agencies across Ohio selected to receive the equipment. According to the department, Ohio appears to be the only state in the nation offering grants for the program.
The drone pods are integrated with the police department's computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, allowing drones to automatically launch for certain types of emergency calls. The drones can provide live aerial video to patrol vehicles, dispatchers and other authorized personnel while officers are responding.
"The drone will be able to lift off and go to those kind of scenes and provide us live feed video from overhead of what's occurring at that situation and send that video back to our patrol car terminals. We have computers in the patrol cars, obviously. So send it to those screens, send it to our dispatchers so they can see what's going on and relay information to officers and even send it to cell phones that we have at the department if we want that to happen," said Lima Police Chief Curtis Hile.
Officials say the live video will help officers better assess situations before arriving and determine whether additional resources are needed.
Each pod stores the drone, automatically recharges it and maintains an internal temperature of 76 degrees to ensure it is ready for deployment.
International Tank Services donated its services to install the drone pods on the roof of the Lima Police Department.
Chief Hile said he hopes the Drone First Responder system will be fully operational by Friday.
