Arlington police & fire departments tackle firework calls from the air
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Police across DFW have fielded thousands of calls about illegal fireworks this week. In Arlington, the police and fire departments teamed up to try to respond to as many calls as possible using drones.
Sergeant Alex Rosados is a patrol supervisor. He says having the Aviation Unit helps decrease response times and saves manpower.
"We have only so many officers out on the streets on July 4th and we need to prioritize the major accidents, DWIs, domestics," he said. "Those are the calls that officers go to first."
Rosados says the drones are able to quickly determine risk to people and property and close out calls that do not require an officer or firefighter.
We found Arlington Police Department Sergeant Robert Robertson and Arlington Fire Department Captain Eddy Saldivar operating a drone on top of a 15-story office building. They made up one of four such teams set up throughout the city on July 4th.
The drones are equipped with a spotlight, infrared technology and a speaker to relay messages. Flying allows them to avoid traffic, saving manpower, fuel and time every day, not just Independence Day.
"For instance, if we get a report that there's debris in the roadway, we send the drone over and see there's no debris, then we can clear that without sending an officer," said Sgt. Robertson. "Same thing with minor accidents or suspicious people."
He says the drones are especially important in high-risk calls.
"Any time we can put an aircraft or robot in a dangerous situation, we have the potential to save human lives," Robertson continued. "If we have a barricaded subject that's armed, we're going to send a drone in before we send officers in. It's a de-escalation tool that we have available to keep both sides safe."
The drones have also been used in missing person searches, rescue missions, foot pursuits and to take aerial photography of major accident scenes. APD lists future known deployments of the drones online. Click here to see a list of when and where they will be used.
