Dearborn Is the First Michigan City to Use Drones as First Responders

Michigan just rolled out something that feels straight out of a sci-fi movie, and yeah, it’s awesome.

Imagine you’re in a car wreck, dealing with a break-in, or a heated situation that’s about to get out of control. You call 911, and before a police car even turns onto your street, a drone is already overhead streaming live video back to officers.

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How Dearborn’s Drone as First Responder Program Works

The City of Dearborn is now using drones as first responders, and it’s all about speed. These drones can be airborne and over a scene anywhere in the city in about two and a half minutes. That’s faster than most patrol cars can even get moving.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, when someone calls 911, a drone can now be sent out immediately to see what is actually happening. We are talking violent situations, traffic crashes, missing persons, break-ins, or even flooding and storm damage. Instead of officers showing up blind, they get live aerial video before they arrive.

You have to admit, this is pretty awesome and feels very futuristic.

 Is This the First Program Like This in Michigan?

Dearborn says this is the first full-scale program like this in Michigan. They’re also making flight data public through an online dashboard, which helps keep the whole thing transparent and not weird.

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The goal here is pretty simple. Faster response times, safer officers, and fewer unnecessary police runs. If this works the way it’s supposed to, don’t be surprised if more Michigan cities jump on board pretty quickly.