How Drones Are Changing Emergency Response In Our Community

When I think of drones I immediately think of the cute, small toy drones that people play with.

Or I think of the drones used in war we hear about all the time on the news and how lethal they can be.

But around West Michigan did you know the law enforcement has been using drones for quite awhile?

I'm talking about the traditional drones that officers, Kent County Sheriff's Deputies, carry in their cars. But there is another, even more high tech drone, that we may not be aware of.

👇 BELOW: DRONES OVER MICHIGAN! 👇

The Kent County Sheriff's office wants to use an automated system, Fox17 reports. They want to install drone docks, which feature "climate-controlled housing that can be mounted on rooftops or secure locations. When a call for service comes in, the dock's dome rolls back and launches a drone that can be operated remotely from anywhere with cellular coverage."

This sounds like a cool idea since with the use of these drones the sheriff's department will be able access and respond to an incident quickly to get a better read on what the situation is.

Public safety is the key concern here. The Fox17 report from the sheriff's department said  "the drone is purpose-built to launch, respond to a call for service and get eyes on as quickly as possible, and then return home."

Is there any red flag here? Privacy is one of them for sure. There will always be those who are concerned we will have spy drones above us all the time.

The program is still in its exploratory stage, finding locations for the docks, determining costs, etc.