REDMOND, Wash. — The CEOs of two local technology companies believe that, together, they hold the key to changing police response as we know it.
This summer, KING 5 first reported that police in Redmond are using drones to respond to 911 calls, but they are limited by a current rule from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which requires someone to watch the drone as it is being flown.
"It does require a visual observer," said Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe, who is currently employing drones on 911 response drones.
But leaders of Seattle-based BRINC Drones and Kirkland-based Echodyne now think they can get that rule changed, and that is something that Chief Lowe believes could disrupt the industry entirely.
"It'll be a game changer," said Lowe when we spoke to him in June. "We've responded to bank robberies, we've responded to people who have fled from our officers."
FAA rules require a visual observer so that a drone doesn't crash with anything or cause a plane crash. As is the case at Redmond Police Department currently, to comply with FAA regulations, an officer must stand on the roof and keep their eyes on the drone itself while it's in flight, looking out for planes, balloons, and more. A separate officer piloting the drone is inside at a standing desk.
The current regulation takes a toll on police staffing resources and limits how far the drone can fly, because it must be kept in the observer's sight at all times.
However, as Lowe told KING 5, "There is technology available that we are working with the FAA to validate, or, prove the concept."
That technology lives within the four walls of the Echodyne headquarters in Kirkland. Echodyne's technology is a type of radar that generates real-time tracks and can work in tandem with drones.
"This is designed to be mounted on a pole on the ground, on a tripod, for example. And then it's looking up at the airspace, and it's clearing everything in the airspace from the ground," said Echodyne's co-founder and CEO Eben Frankenberg. "Mounted on a building somewhere in the center of the municipality."
Frankenberg's radar products will be installed on BRINC Drones, a Seattle company, alongside its robotic charging nests, which will soon be installed at the Redmond Police Department.
BRINC makes the 911 responder drone that Redmond Police Department just purchased.
"Their particular product is going to be a game changer," said Lowe.
By proving a path forward with Echodyne radar, BRINC staff hope other public safety agencies will follow in Redmond's footsteps.
Their proposition seems more feasible every day. Two weeks ago, for the first time ever, the FAA authorized drones to fly in Texas without visual observers.
"With the FAA making more and more approvals, we feel, you know, very good about it," said Frankenberg.
Chief Lowe said in June, "And that will be the next game-changing innovation that the Redmond Police Department will bring to this community."
BRINC said with their partnership with Echodyne technology, one agency has already submitted a waiver, and "is waiting to hear back from the FAA."