PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Police Bureau has released a new dashboard and interactive map for its year-long drone pilot program. It allows the public to see where and when the drones are deployed, and what types of calls they're responding to.
Portland City Council signed off on the program, which kicked off in April. The police bureau has been using the drones for crashes, crime scene reconstruction, search and rescue, examining possible explosives and searching for armed suspects. The drones are either marked with the city of Portland or the Portland Police Bureau logo. They have been deployed 37 times between June 9 and Sept. 30.
The new dashboard will be updated each month on the 15th, Portland police said.
Sgt. Jim DeFrain, with Portland Police Bureau's Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit, oversees the drone program. He said police have been trying to be transparent about the program from the start.
"In a city like Portland, people are very interested in what the police are doing. They're naturally, and probably rightfully, with things like surveillance. So we just want to be very open and clear about what it is we're doing," DeFrain said.
Portland police will evaluate the pilot program after it wraps up in the first quarter of next year. They will look at how often the drones are deployed and how much time they saved by doing so. Portland police is expected to then present their findings to the Portland City Council and offer recommendations moving forward.
