Mission:

The mission of the West Palm Beach Police Department’s (WPBPD) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program is to provide airborne support to police operations in a safe, responsible and transparent manner to preserve the peace, reduce response times and increase the quality of life in West Palm Beach.

Overview:

Small, remotely-operated UAS, also commonly referred to as drones, are an efficient and effective way of providing law enforcement critical information to respond to calls for service and emergency situations, or to conduct criminal investigations. Some examples include providing an overhead view of an area or incident for ground personnel, safely clearing the interior of buildings, providing detailed documentation of crime and accident scenes and searching for lost or missing persons.

History:

In 2017, WPBPD formed its first patrol-based UAS program. Launched and flown on location by an FAA Part 107 licensed pilot, the drone would be used to locate fleeing suspects, missing persons and provide situational awareness for officers on the ground. Using DJI Phantom and Matrics-210 series drones, the pilots would work with visual observers to conduct safe and efficient flight operations. From 2017-2022, the UAS program flew more than 528 missions with 85.5 hours of flight time.

In 2022, due to legislative changes in Florida, the WPBPD UAS unit suspended operations until a drone that met state statute requirements was available.

In late 2023, Skydio produced their X-10 UAS, which not only met the requirements of Florida Statute, but provided a UAS capable of performing drone as first responder missions. WPBPD received their X-10 drones in March 2024, and is currently training pilots.

In June 2024, WPBPD will launch the first drone and first responder program in Florida, and the first program in the nation using the Skydio X-10 as the flight platform. WPBPD will deploy a UAS to 911 calls and other reports of emergency incidents, such as crimes in progress, fires, traffic accidents and reports of dangerous subjects.

This unique Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for drones developed out of a partnership between the WPBPD and the Chula Vista, CA Police Department, who are credited with developing the nation’s first Law Enforcement Drone as First Responder Program (LEDFRP).

Chula Vista P.D. was part of the San Diego Integration Pilot Project Team (IPP), selected as one of only 10 teams among hundreds of applicants as part of the FAA’s IPP. The IPP was a federal initiative designed to help integrate drones into the National Air Space.

WPBPD’s CONOPS is called Drone as First Responder (DFR), and it is a transformational method of policing that has demonstrated the ability to increase officer and community safety and reduce overall police response times. DFR provides the ability to see what is going on at an incident before first responders arrive on the ground. In addition to the overhead perspective that traditional air support has always provided, DFR allows a trained incident commander to virtually arrive on scene first, sometimes minutes before officers are in harm’s way.

The drone has a powerful on-board camera that streams high-definition video to the department’s real-time operations center where the teleoperator, who is a trained critical incident manager, not only controls the drone remotely, but communicates with the units in the field to give them information and tactical intelligence about what they are responding to. The system also streams the video feed to the cell phones of the first responders, supervisors and command staff so they can see exactly what the drone is seeing.

Chief Frank Adderley has called DFR one his most important tools in improving situational awareness, de-escalating dangerous situations and protecting officers and community. DFR is just one of several components in the Chief’s Public Safety Initiative.

To learn more about DFR and how to implement a UAS Program in your agency, please visit the following links:

Drone-Related Activity Dashboard: 

Drone Flight History Maps: 

To achieve public transparency, WPBPD uses drone software to track all flights launched by the department. The drone flight logs provide timely updates and accurate reports on all flight data. At times, the data provided may differ from actual flight data but is checked for accuracy regularly. WPBPD's policies prohibit drone operators from intentionally recording or transmitting images of any location where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, except where authorized by a warrant issued by a judge or in emergency situations. 

Beginning in April 2024, WPBPD partnered with Airdata and Skydio to provide information on every flight by a WPBPD drone. Click here to access recent flight data.