TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Toledo Police could soon have a new set of eyes in the sky. TPD officials pitched a drone pilot program at the city council meeting Tuesday.
The program is a pilot program which means the Toledo Police Department would be testing this new technology. While police see this as an opportunity, some council members are concerned those tests could go awry.
You have probably heard of FLOCK cameras, the technology that reads license plates and helps Toledo Police track down criminals. Now, the department wants to try Aero-dome, a drone program.
The drone program by FLOCK, which if approved by the council, could be in Toledo’s sky as early as next year.
“We could see if that is a technology we can utilize to offset some of the staffing issues that we’ve had, allowing us to deploy a drone from a fixed location and be able to look at open-air situations,” Capt. Michael Smith Jr., with the administrative services bureau of TPD, said.
When a call for help comes in, the drones could be launched from a docking station.
“It’ll launch from a docking station and respond to the location autonomously and it will provide an overview of what’s going on at the location prior to officer’s arrival on scene,” Lt. Jeffrey Thieman with the criminal intelligence division of the TPD, said.
The pilot program would not cost the city anything but some council members said they worry it could cost citizens.
“I think technology is a really important tool that we have to make our places safer. To save money on things that we’re doing. I also think they come with various unintended consequences,” Toledo City Councilmember Nick Komives said.
Councilmember Komives cited a story from April when a FLOCK camera read a man’s license plate incorrectly, leading TPD to pull over and release a dog on an innocent man.
“He had a really traumatic experience as a result of that and my guess is the city will pay money as a result of that,” Councilmember Komives said.
TPD presented its request to the council Tuesday but won’t receive a vote until Dec. 4 at the earliest.
The police department also asked the council for $150,000 to utilize FLOCK’s operating system and install 20 new license plate readers across the city.
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