Dubbed the Patrol Drone Program and unveiled Monday, the initiative builds upon the department’s previous use of drones in crash investigations over the past decade. It is expected to help officers plan more targeted responses to emergencies and deliver help faster.
Drone usage has “significantly improved” the police department’s operations, Justin Mulcahy, director of external affairs, said in an email. He said mapping road closures with manual surveying tools can take up to eight hours, while drones can capture hundreds of photos and quickly create crash scene diagrams, in turn reducing road closure times and traffic congestion.
Mulcahy said the police department has also used drones with thermal imaging to detect heat in successful search-and-rescue operations.
The police department is expected to increase its fleet of drones from 10 to 20 as more officers are trained, with the additions being larger than the crash scene drones. So far, the department has issued two of the additional 10 drones, and the rest will be rolled out in the “near future,” Mulcahy said.
Drones cost $8,000 to $12,000 each, and Mulcahy said the police department is preparing budget proposals for the next fiscal year, which begins in July 2026.
Five of the eight traffic safety investigators are certified to fly the drones, with the remaining three working toward certification. About 15 additional officers are trained to pilot drones, and Mulcahy said the department plans to train more officers as the program expands.
Video and images from the drones are streamed to supervisors who can relay information to officers on the ground via police radio. As the program expands, the drones will connect to the Real Time Information Center, where data from cameras, license plate readers and 911 calls is analyzed by officers.
The program is designed to enhance community and officer safety, as drones may be sent into spaces that would be unsafe for a human, according to the program’s website, as well as provide situational awareness. The drones are not armed with weapons, and none of the department’s drones have ever been attacked.
“For example, if an object reported as a gun is actually a phone or a lighter, the drone’s visual capabilities can de-escalate the situation by providing accurate information, minimizing risk to officers, victims, community members, and suspects during high-risk law enforcement operations,” Mulcahy said in the email.
A dashboard of drone activity will be publicly available at least 30 days after each drone flight, and will display the date, time and flight patterns of drone operations. Additional drone records may be obtained via Maryland Public Information Act requests. Annual reports on drone deployment will be published beginning in 2026.
The dashboard currently shows drone flights since July, with three flights taken during the month. Two of those flights were for training, and the third was for a serious crash investigation.
The drones are permitted only for crime responses, missing person searches and crash investigations. Random surveillance is not permitted, and the video technology does not have facial recognition capabilities, according to the department’s website. The drones adhere to Federal Aviation Administration regulations and are operated by trained drone pilots.
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