Drones will soon be joining the ranks of the Suffolk County Police Department.

Police announced they're launching the "Drones As First Responders" program. For the initiative, five human-operated drones have joined law enforcement officers to assist in dangerous situations such as assessing scenes, recording license plates to avoid police chases, tracking down unreachable or injured officers and better understand the scenes of fires, among others.

The drones are yet to see action in the field, but test flights are currently being held in the county’s second precinct. The first and third precincts will also begin testing in the next six weeks. The technology is expected to be used at every precinct in the department by 2026.

According to Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, they will also

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