Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder unveiled the police department’s drone as first responder program. The program consists of Skydio drones in eight locations in the county that can be sent out when an emergency call comes in or in a patrol setting. Ryder said there are 70 Skydio drones in the county.
Drones are kept in eight pods, including one at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, where the program was announced Monday. The pods are temperature regulated and serve as charging stations for the drones. Ryder explained that when police receive a high-level call, a drone can be deployed from its pod and sent to the location of the call to transmit video to the intelligence center and police cars.
Blakeman described the program as “very exciting” and praised the Nassau County Police Department.
“We need to give them everything they need,” he said at the Monday news conference, “to continue to be the amazing police department they are and keep us all safe.”
In addition to deployment in response to a call, drones can be sent out “proactively,” according to Ryder. He provided the example of using drones to monitor a large concert. The drones also include heat-seeking technology. Ryder said that this can help in locating a missing person in a wooded area.
Drones are operated by 40 Federal Aviation Administration certified drone pilots. The drones are flown in a 2.5-mile radius, and coverage areas overlap. If a drone’s battery is low, it will automatically return to its pod. They were also designed with parachutes in case a drone is unable to return to its pod.
Ryder touted the drones’ speed and said that they can fly up to 45 miles per hour. The drive from the training and intelligence center to Eisenhower Park in East Meadow is roughly seven minutes.
“In 30 seconds, that drone can be over that area in Eisenhower Park,” Ryder claimed, “feeding back critical intel to the intelligence center and to the responding vehicles that are going there, so we can give them continued communication.”
According to Ryder, the FAA requires that drone pilots in the program fly drones at 200 feet above the ground. The maximum height a drone is allowed to fly in Nassau County is 400 feet. Ryder said that drones will fly at 200 feet above the ground but can exceed that height with FAA approval in an emergency.
There is no cost to taxpayers for the program to run, according to Blakeman. It is being paid for by the county’s asset forfeiture funds, money seized by law enforcement when obtained through criminal activity.
Ryder emphasized that the Skydio drone is American made.
“Most of the private drones that you see flowing out there today are DJI,” he said. “They are Chinese-made drones. We are prohibited from buying Chinese-made drones with asset money or grant money.”
Ryder added that drones will not be patrolling county residents’ backyards or neighborhoods.
“They're patrolling areas of concern, like, like a cop does,” he said. “So, if the cop can see it, the drone can see it, but the drone can see it better and faster.”
