In an effort to serve the community and gain real-world training, the Fullerton College Drone Lab has partnered with Flying Lion Inc., and Fullerton Police Department to provide drone as first responder service for the city.
Fullerton College drone students, in the Hornet Drone Piloting Apprenticeship Program, will maintain and help launch uncrewed aerial vehicles from a rooftop, for Flying Lion, Inc., to assist the Fullerton Police Department employ drones as first responders.
“This is a great opportunity for Fullerton College students to gain real-world experience. While helping out our local community,” said Jay Seidel, professor and director of the Fullerton Drone Lab at Fullerton College.
Drone as First Responder (DFR), as employed by FPD, will consist of drones positioned at a high point in the city, providing the ability to immediately deploy the aircraft to the reported emergency incidents, calls for service, or first responder requests. In many cases, the drones can arrive at any given incident prior to first responders on the ground and provide greater situational awareness for the officers.
The DFR Program follows all established FAA guidelines, privacy laws, and FPD Policies regarding the use of uncrewed aerial systems.
“FPD couldn’t’ be more excited about our DFR partnership with Fullerton College, two long-standing Fullerton institutions within our community,” said Captain Jon Radus of the Fullerton Police Department. “We look forward to not only improving public safety with faster and more effective response times, but also to teach and train the next generation of public servants.”
Since the collaboration is with Fullerton College, the Fullerton Police Department has adopted the call sign “Hornet” for the program, in homage to the Fullerton College Hornets.
The FPD program will start with a 30-day trial period beginning on July 26. Flying Lion Inc. will provide managerial and operational structure for the drone service.
“We’re excited to be supporting Fullerton Police Department with their Drone as First Responder (DFR) trial program launch. This just expands upon our partnership with Fullerton College’s Drone Lab which has already been a source for us hiring multiple well trained drone pilots and managers,” said Steven Katz, Flying Lion provider of consulting services and pilots to Fullerton PD.
Flying Lion is a Southern California-based company that provides on-demand rapid aerial assessment and imaging services to law enforcement and emergency service departments with remotely operated copters with built-in high definition and infrared cameras. Flying Lion provides DFR services to Chula Vista, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Redondo Beach, and Hemet police departments, among others, and has the most DFR experience of any organization in the world.