Jefferson City Council approves grant for JCPD drone

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council voted to accept an almost $60,000 grant for the purchase of a new drone for the Jefferson City Police Department.

The grant is from the Jefferson City Missouri Police Foundation, a non-profit formed by local businesses to support the JCPD.

"We currently have drones, but they are outdated and old, and we can't get the replacement parts for it, so we decided to purchase a new one," Jefferson City Police Department Lieutenant Jason Payne said.

Payne said the grant will cover the entire drone purchase.

The drone will be from the BRINC company and has thermal imaging and third-party mapping capabilities. Drones are equipped with two-way communications so police and communicate with people during a scene or rescue. It can also deliver small items like defibrilators, Narcan and EpiPens in emergency scenarios. JCPD plans to use drones for search and rescue and crowd monitoring scenarios.

"They can cover large areas in rough terrain," Payne said. "If there was a disaster, we can use them for assessing their disaster areas ... also for safety, reduce the risk of officers going into potential areas of unknown suspects."

"The truth is just drones lead to better outcomes," David Benowitz BRINC Vice President of Strategy & Marketing Communications said. "Having those first eyes on scene without having to put a body in the way, being able to create distance, being able to get that information and being able to communicate with people remotely just leads to better outcomes."