Prosper P.D. launches DFR 2.0 program with Flock Security know-how
By DRONELIFE Options Editor Jim Magill
As police departments throughout the U.S. embrace the idea of utilizing drones as first responders (DFR), some legislation enforcement businesses, such because the Prosper, Texas Police Division, are transferring ahead into the longer term with DFR 2.0.
The division not too long ago applied a DFR program that mixes the aptitude of drones to quickly reply to a scene and relay worthwhile data to police personnel with a complete citywide community of safety cameras and license plate readers.
In Might, Prosper turned the primary police company within the state to undertake the Flock Aerodome DFR system, developed by public security software program firm Flock Security.
“What this synthetic intelligence know-how is offering is a stage of officer security we’ve by no means had earlier than, which I feel is completely unbelievable,” mentioned Prosper P.D. Sgt. Keith Mann, head of the division’s DFR operations.
Flock Security’s DFR resolution makes use of distant operation software program to regulate the police division’s UAV and drone docking stations and to answer emergency incidents, Fritz Reber Flock Security’s director of DFR consulting mentioned in an interview. The corporate’s different safety instruments, notably its license plate readers (LPR) “are actually essential to DFR as a result of they function launch triggers,” he mentioned
“The bread and butter of Flock Security was LPRs license plate reader alerts, and that may be a huge supply of knowledge for officers,” Reber mentioned.
Prosper’s DFR system employs the FlockOS a real-time intelligence platform to combine knowledge from quite a few sources, together with video, license plate recognition (LPR), and audio to supply a complete view of incidents.
Reber described the system as “a single-pane-of-glass approach of viewing all these sensors that you’ve entry to,” along with the drone’s digital camera.
Mann mentioned the system permits the DFR drone, a DJI Matrice 350, to launch from its rooftop drone nest, and to fly autonomously to the positioning of an incident and instantly begin transmitting real-time intelligence to the Prosper command heart.
“You have got a name for service are available and my drone operator from the police division will launch our drone,” he mentioned. As a result of town doesn’t but have ground-based radar, underneath the division’s FAA Certificates of Authorization the drone solely is permitted to fly underneath the watchful eye of a visible observer (VO) on the roof.
As soon as on the scene, the drone will start transmitting to knowledge officers on the operation heart in addition to these en path to the positioning, guiding them alongside the most secure path to the scene, and serving as an overwatch of the realm to alert responders of any doubtlessly harmful state of affairs that the 911 dispatchers weren’t conscious of.
Mann mentioned accessing the LPR knowledge provides responding officers an added stage of safety. He recalled an incident wherein an LPR digital camera posted within the metropolis noticed a car that was related to felony warrants touring via city.
“The drone discovered the car inside lower than two minutes, and was in a position to usher in patrol sources,” he mentioned.
“These patrol sources had been in a position to pull the car over, establish the person contained in the automotive, and truly had this particular person, who had a number of felony warrants on them, in handcuffs inside lower than six minutes.”
Absent the license plate reader and the DFR system, the one approach an officer would have been alerted to the presences of a felon driving via city would have been if the car had been dashing or concerned in a wreck. “That is among the largest advantages that I see. The suspect was protected. My officers had been protected,” he mentioned.
As soon as the drone returns from its mission, in lower than two minutes the docking station will routinely swap out its depleted battery with a recent one, equipping the drone to take off on its subsequent task.
Totally different drones for various functions
The DFR drone has operational boundaries that preserve it inside three to three-and-half miles of its charging station. With a very good tailwind, the UAV can journey as quick as 58 mph, Mann mentioned.
“For DFR, the primary precept is pace. That’s what distinguishes it from different sorts of drone operations, getting the drone launched and to the scene as rapidly as attainable,” he mentioned.
Mann mentioned town’s DFR drone is an especially sturdy car, in a position to fly at altitudes of 400 ft within the face of excessive winds. “We’ve had gusts of 30 miles an hour right here, and the drone operates flawlessly. You have got a bit bit much less battery life, I’ll say that, as a result of it’s working to stabilize every part that’s occurring up there.”
individuals can comply with the progress of town’s DFR program on the Prosper PD Flight Dashboard. In accordance with the Dashboard, between June 3 and July 3, 2025, the DFR drone responded to 118 calls, leading to a 60% discount in common response time in contrast with non-DFR calls. The common response time was about 4 minutes. Thirty-one topics had been positioned and 4 calls had been cleared with out requiring the response of human patrol officers.
Along with the DJI M 350 used for DFR operations, the Prosper PD additionally equips quite a lot of its patrol automobiles for cellular drone operations, which might work in live performance with the DFR drone, Mann mentioned.
“I’ve particular gear within the again that permit me to cost the batteries. I’ve TV screens, all these sorts of issues,” he mentioned. “We supply the DJI M (Matrice) 30s behind the patrol items.” The drone patrol items additionally carry DJI Avatas, compact first-person view drones.
“If we had a state of affairs the place the DFR drone performing overwatch needed to return, then my patrol drone pilot can launch their M 30 to supply overwatch on a state of affairs. After which if it’s a felony site visitors cease, we use our Avata,” Mann mentioned. “After you pull individuals out, we might ship the Avata drone into the car and permit the Avata drone to do a 360 (search) contained in the car to ensure no person else is hiding within the automotive.”
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Jim Magill is a Houston-based author with nearly a quarter-century of expertise overlaying technical and financial developments within the oil and fuel business. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P World Platts, Jim started writing about rising applied sciences, resembling synthetic intelligence, robots and drones, and the methods wherein they’re contributing to our society. Along with DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared within the Houston Chronicle, U.S. Information & World Report, and Unmanned Methods, a publication of the Affiliation for Unmanned Automobile Methods Worldwide.
