Commerce City Police Department is now using drones as first responders to 911 calls, helping officers arrive at emergency situations with a better understanding of what’s going on, according to a department news release. 

The new program, called the Drone as First Responder Program, launched earlier this month and allows police officials to remotely operate drones to respond to 911 calls. 

The drones are strategically placed atop several city buildings, according to the release, and are launched, flown and docked by trained pilots in critical situations. 

Using drone footage, responding officers can get “critical” situational information before arriving on scene, according to the release. This will help officers respond with appropriate resources and understanding of what is going on, including things like tracking people who try to flee and ensuring the scene is safe for officers.

Drones will never be deployed for routine surveillance or to generate new law enforcement investigations, according to department spokesperson Joanna Small. They are only used to respond to calls for service or alerts from the city’s Flock Public Safety System – a network of cameras around the city.

The three drones used on rooftops for first response are only a few of the city’s fleet, with their traffic team and patrol officers also using drones for similar purposes, Small said. She could not provide a total number of drones used by the department. 

“The drones are very effective; we used one flying beyond our visual line of sight on May 10th to capture an assault in progress and then track one of the suspects who tried to run from the scene,” Small said. “Our drone operator was able to direct ground officers to the person attempting to flee and they were taken into custody.”

A similar program launched in Wheat Ridge last April, and Wheat Ridge Police Department spokesperson Alex Rose said the technology has been useful.

Unlike the new Commerce City drone program, Wheat Ridge uses their drones not as first response, but rather on specific calls officials think may benefit from drone use. 

The department has three drones and eight trained and certified pilots to operate them. Drones have been used for a variety of police purposes, including searching for missing people, crime scene over watch and building sweeps of a scene before officer arrival, Rose said. 

Drones have been a helpful safety tool for both officers and suspects, he said, helping officers avoid a potential ambush situation and keep certain situations from escalating. 

“If a person wants to attack our drone, that’s much better than them attacking our officers,” Rose said, adding that shooting down an aircraft is a federal offense. 

In late October, Wheat Ridge officers used a drone’s infrared abilities to find a burglary suspect hiding in a bush in a nearby park, according to a department Facebook post. 

“It’s a good tool to be on the cutting edge for,” Rose said, adding that each call they use a drone for is a good learning experience as the technology changes and develops. 

Officials don’t always have time to get a drone up in every situation, he added. In certain circumstances, there is an element of urgency and “we have to do it the good old fashioned way,” Rose said. 

CCPD’s spokesperson Small could not provide information on the cost of their drone program by press time. Wheat Ridge’s four drones cost about $18,000, Rose said.