Drones
Stockton, California's city council voted 7-0 to add $3.15 million to its Flock Safety contract for a police drone program linked to about 120 Flock license plate cameras.
A dated step forward on the record
What the source says
“Stockton’s council voted 7-0 on March 31 to add $3.15 million to its Flock Safety contract for a drone program tied to about 120 Flock license plate cameras”
What it means
Drones as first responders, from Skydio, Flock Safety, Brinc, Axon, is at stage 5 of 5 on our ladder: regulator-cleared or mass market. Its stage is set by other milestones on its record; this one adds to the history.
Human help: People working remotely can steer it or take over.
More on Drones as first responders
- Lakeland, Florida's city commission approved a ten-year, $22 million Axon agreement that adds docked drones (drones launched from a base station) to police body cameras, TASERs and software.
- Lakeland, Florida, bought drone-as-first-responder flights (police drones sent to emergency calls) as part of a 10-year, $21.98 million Axon contract that also covers body cameras and in-car video.
- A Boston police Brinc Responder drone fell from the sky onto a parked car six days after the city announced its pilot program. No one was hurt and no cause had been given.
- A Boston police drone (a Brinc Responder) fell onto a parked Mazda in Brighton, damaging the rear windshield and trunk; no injuries were reported.
- Chula Vista, California, the department that started this kind of program, had passed 25,000 drone flights and publishes a map of every mission.
- Privacy groups such as the EFF warn that these drones can film people from distances where they do not know they are being watched.