Real-time drone tech helps Oklahoma City police track suspects and recover evidence
By Meghan Mosley
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — Oklahoma City police are using real-time drone technology to improve response times and provide critical support during emergencies.
“It’ll automatically deploy the drone, and it will fly autonomously to the scene of that log of that CAD call address,” said Sgt. Dax LaPorte of the Oklahoma City Police Department.
The drones have helped officers track suspects, recover evidence and make arrests. In one case, a drone captured footage of a man ditching a gun in the woods.
In another instance from April, a downtown fight escalated quickly, and the drone provided real-time information to officers.
“As the drone’s getting overhead, they see the physical confrontation, and then they see one chasing another. They’re able to see through the lens of the drone that the person chasing the other has a gun,” LaPorte said. “What started out as just a yelling match or maybe a slight physical match now then transitioning to one person chasing another with a gun in a crowded downtown area, and they’re able to see this with the lens of the drone and update the officers responding.”
Analysts in the department’s real-time information center monitor dispatch calls and prioritize them to determine if a drone is needed.
“We have six different priority levels. If it is priority one or two, they’re pretty much piecing, ‘Do I have a dock in the area of that call, and I want to start sending a drone,’” LaPorte said.
The drone technology averages nearly 1,200 flights a month, with strategically placed docking stations across the city to ensure rapid deployment.
Police say the technology not only aids officers but also provides critical support to local fire departments during emergency calls.
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