DC police takes to air with new helicopter, drones to fight crime

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Monday unveiled a new helicopter and five new drones to help in its battle to fight crime in the nation’s capital.

Despite crime trending downwards in Washington D.C., police officials said they wanted to have more aerial support to have extra eyes around the District. MPD was also dealing with a shortage of nearly 800 officers.

“The bottom line is that they will help the community and our officers as we are working to make violent crime go down,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. “Additionally, they’ll help us solve more crimes and allow us to use our finite resources more efficiently.”

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The new $6.2 million helicopter will take over Falcon 1, retiring the oldest helicopter in the fleet of two that had been in use since the early 2000s. The second helicopter in the fleet will be renamed Falcon 2, officials said.

The drones that will be used cost nearly $16,000 each and can only fly for 20 to 30 minutes before the battery runs out. Officials said they will be used to assist in chases, unruly crowds and active crime scenes.

Both the helicopters and drones will work in concert with the Real Time Crime Center, which uses sophisticated camera systems to track crimes in real time from MPD headquarters. The center also monitors thousands of cameras in the District.

“Just last year, the helicopters assisted with 76 arrests, including carjacking, shooting and homicide suspects,” the mayor said.

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None of the new aerial equipment will invade people’s privacy while in the air but will record activity below on the ground when a crime is being committed, MPD officials said. They also added that no artificial intelligence will be used either.

“This just gives us more capabilities of having eyes in the sky,” D.C.’s police chief, Pamela Smith, said. “This is a true game changer, not just for our agency but for the District of Columbia.”

MPD officials said the drones will be in the air for during Independence Day holiday celebration and the upcoming NATO summit next month.

“This just gives us more capabilities of having eyes in the sky with the helicopter now being able to have the technology that it has,” Smith said.

But D.C. resident Ozzie Bruce isn’t convinced. While he said he’s all for deterring crime, Bruce said he fears the new technology will do more harm than good.

“I don’t like the idea,” Bruce said. “Because they can use it in different ways to eliminate neighborhoods. You’ve got people that’s poor that look like they’re into crime and they’re not. They’re just homeless.”

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However, Laquanda Watts of D.C. said that crime has been an issue in the District and that any tool to help stamp it out is welcomed.

“I feel like it’s beneficial, especially for the things we can’t see,” she said. “I know a lot of people may have a problem with privacy because they may feel like why are these hovering over us all the time.”

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