Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich will be joined by County Councilmember Andrew Friedson and Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) leadership to announce the expansion of the MCPD Drone as First Responder Program to the Bethesda area at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 12 at the Public Safety Headquarters.
According to a press release from Tuesday, March 11th, the program began deployment in the 2nd District (Bethesda) today. The Drone as First Responder Program, launched in November 2023, is currently operational in the 3rd District (downtown Silver Spring), 4th District (Wheaton/Glenmont), 6th District (Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village) and 2nd District (Bethesda).
Since its launch, the program has conducted more than 2,000 flights. Last April, after less than 500 flights, MCPD shared that the average response time was 60 seconds, the drone was first on the scene in 71% of DFR calls, 157 suspects/subjects were located, and the program assisted with apprehensions of auto theft and theft from auto, assaults, shoplifting, weapons, and more.