The Huntington Beach Police Department has a new first responder: a drone.
By deploying from rooftop docks, the Drone as First Responder program — otherwise known as DFR — is expected to allow police to respond to an emergency in two minutes or less, the department said.
Unlike the current drone program, these new devices will be operated remotely, making response times even shorter than the typical five minutes for officers now.
For those concerned about possible violations of privacy, Lt. Chris Nesmith told KTLA's Chip Yost that the devices won't record unless "there's something of evidentiary value."
"We are not going to be proactive with this; we're not going to be surveilling," he said. "This is a reaction to calls, to help the officers en route to calls."
The program will fully