SILVER SPRING, Md. — A Montgomery County drone helped officers track down and arrest two men who tried to steal items from a Silver Spring Safeway back in November. Police released video from Raven 1, and shared stats on the Drone as First Responder (DFR) program Wednesday.
According to police, on Nov. 30 around 6:15 p.m., officers responded to the Safeway in the 900 block of Thayer Avenue in Downtown Silver Spring for a report of an assault. Raven 1 was first to the scene, and spotted two men leaving the grocery store carrying a bunch of stuff.
The drone followed the men, later identified as 26-year-old Brandon Mark and 40-year-old Joseph Paul Lee, to Mayor Lane and Thayer Avenue and let responding officers know where they were.
Officers took Lee and Mark into custody and recovered the stolen merchandise. Both men were charged with theft, obstructing and hindering. Lee was released on a $100 unsecured bond. Mark was held without bond due to an arrest warrant in D.C.
Police told WUSA9 the reason they're doing this is because of staff shortages and the increase in crime they're seeing.
During the months of November and December 2023, Raven 1 responded to 159 calls in downtown Silver Spring, and was the first on scene for 121 calls (76% of total calls). The drone's average response time was 1 minute and 21 seconds and helped find 27 wanted people, according to police.
"So far we've had good successes; I think we're happy," Lt. Doug Miller said. " Officers are realizing it's up in the air helping them out."
Montgomery County Lt. Doug Miller said this just gives officers the vital information and now their response times are quicker.
"It's about a minute and twenty seconds," Miller said.
Miller also said the drone doesn't just stay up in the air spying on people in between calls.
"We are not doing any proactive patrols, we are only responding to and from 911 calls," Miller said.
The way it typically works, Miller told WUSA9 a person is on top of one of the taller buildings in Downtown Silver Spring and as they receive certain calls, they'll have a pilot fly the drone to give others on the ground details about what they can see from above to help.
"The high priority calls, assaults, thefts, stuff like that we can provide assistance with them. We can launch the drone and get there before officers get on scene," Miller said.
Police said this pilot program has canceled the need for patrol officers to more than 20 calls and allowed them to respond to other calls. During November and December, this drone has not only responded to 159 calls in downtown Silver Spring but was also first on scene for more than 70 percent of those calls.
"I think it's the future," Miller said. "I don't think we can ever replace a police officer on the ground."
Miller said the department hopes to get a second site for a drone in Downtown Wheaton. They asked council for this after seeing so much success. WUSA 9 learned the plan is to have the second site operation next week. As for now, this a pilot program based in just Downtown Silver Spring.
The DFR program is in the pilot stages and is modeled after similar programs used by police departments in California. The Montgomery County DFR program is based out of Silver Spring and Wheaton. It has a 1.2 Nautical Mile radius flight range.
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