OC Police Department Launches New Drone First Responder Program

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — There's a new sheriff in town, Huntington Beach.

The Huntington Beach Police Department will use drones as a part of a new First Responder Program — otherwise known as DFR — in an effort to help officers with their daily work and allow for shorter response times to calls.

The devices will be operated remotely and make response times ever shorter than the standard five minutes, police said. The program will fully roll out in two weeks and is expected to cost around $500,000.

Lt. Chris Nesmith told KTLA that the devices will not record unless "there's something of evidentiary value."

"We are not going to be proactive with this; we're not going to be surveilling," he told KTLA. "This is a reaction to calls, to help officers en route to calls."