The Brief

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - The Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) is launching a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program to deploy drones to emergency scenes in under two minutes.

What we know:

According to police, the new DFR program will use three American-made Skydio X10 drones launched from automated stations across the city.

These drones are operated by licensed officers from the department's Real-Time Crime Center and are equipped with thermal imaging, high-resolution cameras, and GPS tracking.

The drones can autonomously navigate to an address before a pilot takes over to monitor the situation.

The program is strictly for emergency response and is not for surveillance, police said.

What they're saying:

Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns said the program i

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