Police in Peel Region may soon deploy drones to certain 911 calls, something the deputy chief says could reduce response times.

While drones have increasingly been used by services around the country for a variety of police work, Deputy Chief Anthony Odoardi said in a statement Thursday that the new initiative would make Peel Regional Police "one of, if not the first police service in Canada to deploy drones in this capacity."

The intention is to reduce response times and give officers real-time information from the scene before they arrive, Odoardi said in the statement.

Exactly what types of calls drones will be assigned to is still being determined, he said, but they could possibly be used for "in-progress incidents" like break-and-enters, missing vulnerable persons and auto thefts.

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