1 You were in on FWPD’s drone program from the start. What was the moment you thought, “This isn’t a gimmick — this is going to change how we police”?

Rowland: I never thought that our drones were a gimmick necessarily, and we always hoped that we would prove useful from the start of the program. The moment for us came early in the rollout of our program.

We were doing overwatch on a house where the suspect was able to get past perimeter units. The drone was able to follow the suspect until officers chasing him were able to catch up and take him into custody. It was a very early win for our team.

2 Your drones are getting to scenes before patrol units most of the time. What’s an example where that head start made the difference between reacting and preventing something from escalating?

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