On Wednesday the South Bend Police Department announced its new Drone as First Responder program. Police warned people to leave the drone alone.
Their new drone is stationed on the police headquarters roof and will be sent out on select 911 calls before officers can arrive on scene.
Our coverage prompted some comments on Facebook from people saying they’ll shoot down the drone if it hovers over their homes. But Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said taking such action would not be wise.
“It’s 400 feet in the air and it’s essentially a dot," Ruszkowski said. "If you shoot at it and hit it, that drone is going to fall on something or someone. If you shoot at it and miss it, that bullet is going to fall on something or someone. So it’s not just our $2,500 discharging a firearm in the city, you have several federal agencies that you’re going to have to contend with as well. And we will help them find that. And it’s got a really good camera so if you do do that, then on its way down we’re probably going to identify you.”
Vendor Flock Safety is letting the city trial the drone free of charge until the end of the year. Starting next year Flock will charge the city $300,000 a year for the program.
