Rochester Police Department acquires funding for new drone technology

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Rochester Police Department (RPD) is poised to innovate its drone program after gaining unanimous approval for the purchase from the city council on Monday.

$467,000 was acquired from a Mayo Clinic Grant to equip its department with Axon’s latest drone technology.

RPD Chief Jim Franklin addressed the technological benefits of the new drones during Monday’s city council meeting.

“The concept of drones first responder is that auto-launch to calls for service with that rapid response, getting that real time situational awareness for police officers responding to incidents in the city,” Franklin said. “It’s a pretty incredible technology.”

The new drones will use thermal imaging, augmented reality overlays for precision, and can be controlled at the click of a button from a remote location.

The department’s current drones are physically taken out by an officer, in a safe location, and deployed with a spotter. However, this new program will incorporate two permanently docked drones at strategic locations around the city, without a spotter, and can reach calls in under three minutes.

RPD Captain Jon Turk said the new technology will increase officer safety and gather vital information before officers arrive at an active scene.

“Trying to maybe locate somebody who’s lost in the woods or has disappeared, well, that’s going to be huge for us to help try and locate somebody as quickly as possible,” Turk said. “Back in the earlier days of law enforcement, we maybe have to call for a helicopter to come and do something like that.”

Turk said RPD will place one dock on the north side of town and one on the south side of town for roughly two-thirds coverage of the city.

“They’re not used for general patrol duties. So think of a squad of car driving around, patrolling neighborhoods. The drones aren’t going to be used that way,” Turk said. “They will be sitting in a dock waiting to be dispatched to a specific call that meets certain department and state criteria.”

Turk mentioned the new drones have many capabilities, even beyond police work.

“It could be there’s a house fire or a medical call, maybe somebody is out on a trail somewhere. We can help pinpoint the location on a medical call that is maybe more fire-related than law enforcement,” Turk said. “So, it’s going to be a public safety asset.”

RPD is encouraging staff members to become drone-certified and will appoint an officer to spearhead the program.

The department plans to put the new drones into the sky by late fall.

The technology has been introduced to hundreds of communities across the country, and Rochester is the second city in Minnesota, behind Minnetonka, to approve the purchase.

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