A drone could soon become the first responder to a fire, pursuit, or other emergency situation in Rossford and Perrysburg Township.
The communities’ police chiefs have been in talks with a Seattle company to bring a first-responder drone to a central part of their area in northern Wood County. This is different than a regular drone in that it could be sent by dispatchers to an emergency call, arriving in seconds.
Police Chief Matt Gazarek discussed the program Wednesday during a Perrysburg Township trustees meeting.
He said the drone, which could cost $150,000 annually, is too pricey to buy now, but will probably be considered in the future. A partnership with a neighboring department, such as Rossford’s, would help, he said.
The use of such a drone could have helped with a May incident that left an East Toledo man dead after a chase led into a Tracy Road ditch at night, Chief Gazarek said.
The drone would differ from those already operated by several area law enforcement agencies, such as Rossford and the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, by being “nested” in a home location and ready to deploy at any time, he said.
“It’s launched at the push of a button through dispatch,” Chief Gazarek said. “The doors open up, the drone takes off, and it can fly up to a three-mile radius.”
The drone can be taken over manually once officers arrive on scene, he added.
The drone could be housed near the Rossford Elementary on Lime City Road, near State Rt. 795, which would stage it near the Ohio Turnpike and I-75, he said.
Chief Gazarek said he and Rossford Police Chief Todd Kitzler have been invited to a drone demonstration at BRINC headquarters in Seattle.
Chief Kitzler said he has looked at two different companies for this service and plans on researching a third.
“We wouldn’t do it unless we partner with the township — it’s too expensive to take on, on our own,” he said Monday. “But the way I look at it, one police officer can cost $140,000 [annually] after wages and benefits. So a drone isn’t an actual police officer, but it’s kind of like that. It’s an extra set of eyes.”
Chief Kitzler cited an example of a fire call from the Home Depot store on U.S. 20/23 in the Crossroads area.
“The drone could be over Home Depot in 20 seconds,” the Rossford chief said. “If there’s no smoke showing, you can slow the fire trucks down. They don’t have to run 80 mph getting there.”
And beyond that, he said, “There’s all kinds of different scenarios you could play out.”
Several factors cause a first-responder drone to be pricier than most drones, Chief Kitzler said, starting with a radar system to avoid in-flight collisions that costs more than the actual drone.
The police departments would also have to obtain a Federal Aviation Administration waiver to a rule limiting drone flights to within the pilot’s range of vision.
“They have to physically see drone with the naked eye,” he said of regular drone operations. “If a dispatcher is sitting in the office, they’re not going to visually see that drone.
“Just the cost and the waiver process, they’re pretty stringent. They don’t want a bunch of stuff flying in the airspace,” Chief Kitzler said.
David Benowitz, BRINC vice president of strategy and marketing communications, said this drone technology is a big investment for the company, too. He added that deals can structured over five years to make them more affordable to communities.
The charging nest, the drone, and other elements, such as software and ground-based radar, are factored into the cost, Mr. Benowitz said Monday.
He said these “wildly faster” drones are the future of first responders. BRINC has contracted with over 500 public safety agencies across America and is in talks with 150 more, he said.
The company was founded by Blake Resnick in response to the 2017 Las Vegas concert shooting that killed 58 people, Mr. Benowitz said.
“It was really a traumatic incident to his whole friend and family group,” he said of Mr. Resnick, who grew up in Las Vegas and started his engineering career at age 14.
A first-responder drone could have helped there, Mr. Benowitz said. The shooter had a baby monitor set up to alert him if anyone was coming into his hotel room, where he was firing from, he said. A drone would have been able to have a better sight on him.
Also, in the chaos, several people at the Las Vegas concert were reporting possibly 20 to 30 other shooters, Mr. Benowitz said, and a drone would have been “eyes above the scene,” clarifying the situation.
Some of the drone’s other features a 42-minute flight time for its battery, a 40-times zoom HD camera, a thermal imager, and a two-way audio system. It can also deliver EpiPens, automated external defibrillators, personal floatation devices, and naloxone.
The system also includes a public transparency dashboard, showing the public the flight history and other data, Mr. Benowitz said.
“We work hand in hand with agencies so the community knows how these drones operate,” he said.
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