Daytona Beach Police Department to Utilize a New Talking Drone.

Written by Kristen Schmutz

Belden Communications News.

Daytona Beach Police Department is promoting its acquisition of a new talking drone from DJI Enterprises. While DBPD received their drone on loan from the company, this is not the first time the drones have been used in the county. Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has utilized these drones in various parts of the county and has ownership of several.

DJI is a global team dedicated to developing drone solutions for agriculture, energy, public safety, survey, mapping and more. The company works with many different Government, Public Safety, Construction, and Energy agencies, and has recently activated a Disaster Relief Program which helps public safety agencies around the country confront the coronavirus.

Since launching the program last week, the company has distributed 100 drones to police, fire, and public safety organizations across 22 states. DBPD is one of many agencies that can utilize these drones that are equipped with an intercom system.

This new technology allows for officers to be able to speak to people without a close physical proximity, a capability the Police Department did not previously have.

Based on the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, these new tools will allow the Department to disperse crowds without putting officers at risk of exposure to COVID-19.

DBPD’s UAS is a part of the Unmanned Aviation Unit (which launched back in 2017) who has utilized these new talking drones on a few occasions. The drone was used to follow a “teacher parade” from Palm Terrace Elementary on March 31^st.

While the drone integrates an intercom system, it is not equipped to record any audio.

DBPD put together a video of the drone, highlighting the showcase which can be found here.