Drones Are Responding to 911 Calls in Downtown Gresham

It’s the first program of its kind in Oregon.

ABOVE GRESHAM: Main City Park and Gresham Butte, viewed by drone. (Brian Burk)
By Lucas Manfield

Gresham has rolled out its new drone program, the city manager announced at a city council meeting last week.

The $85,000 “Drones as First Responders” pilot program is already sending the unmanned, autonomous flying machines to crime scenes and fires. Right now, it’s responding to “exigent circumstances,” like a traffic accident or missing person, within a 1-mile radius of City Hall. The city hopes to expand the program in the future, a spokeswoman tells WW.

The city is working with the Austin-based software company Drone Sense to train officers on how to pilot the drones. “We’re able to respond to officers quicker,” says city manager Nina Vetter. “We have eyes on situations faster than we ever could before.”

The program is designed to “offset police staffing shortages,” according to planning documents reviewed by WW. It’s the sixteenth program of its type in the country, Vetter says.

Similar programs have proved controversial, and experts say it’s still unclear whether they’re effective. A community newspaper sued the California beach town Chula Vista, which has the nation’s longest-running drone program, after it refused to turn over camera footage taken from its drone first responders.

The Portland Police Bureau announced a much more limited drone program earlier this year, which will send drones to collect aerial photographs of crime scenes and traffic crashes.

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