The Montgomery County Council will hold committee meetings on Monday, November 4th. Full agenda below courtesy Montgomery County:
“The Public Safety (PS) Committee will meet on Monday, Nov. 4 at 9:30 a.m. to receive a briefing about the Real Time Intelligence Center and the Drone as First Responder Program from Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) representatives.
The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Real Time Intelligence Center and Drone as First Responder Program
Briefing: The PS Committee will receive a briefing about the Real Time Intelligence Center and the Drone as First Responder Program. The Real Time Intelligence Center was created using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding as part of the department’s efforts to combat rising violent crime rates, particularly those involving firearms. The program leverages various policing technologies to provide current information to police. This technology includes Axon Fusus software, which provides a platform to access and share real-time camera feeds. Using this platform, the department has launched MoCoConnect, a voluntary camera registration and integration program that allows MCPD to work with community members to prevent and address crime.
The Drone as First Responder Program utilizes unmanned aircraft systems, also known as drones, to fly to a call for MCPD service and assist in helping to evaluate the scene and circumstances before officers arrive and during an event. The program was first recommended as a pilot in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Operating Budget. After MCPD completed public outreach about the program, it operated as a pilot through June 30, 2024. Funding was included in the FY25 Operating Budget to expand the operational hours of the program in Silver Spring and Wheaton and add new sites in Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village and Bethesda. The Gaithersburg site began operations in October.”