Drone Technology makes 2025 feel like a 90s Science Fiction Movie
Chattanooga, TN – This week we went on location to the Chattanooga Riverfront with some of Chattanooga Police Department’s finest so they could show off their new drone technology and how it’s making Chattanooga a safer and more efficient city.
Sgt. James Miller is a drone commander for CPD and his department is working on having drones to deploy around the city for both emergency and non-emergency situations.
These drones are made by Brinc and are not available for civilian purchase. Drones made by other manufacturers that have previously been used are all made outside of the US and there is growing concern they could be compromised. Brinc manufactures specifically for law enforcement and first responders.
The first drone he showed us in action is the Brinc Lemer 2 and it’s a tactical drone with a carbide tip that can break through glass to get eyes inside a location before law enforcement is sent in. According to Sgt. Miller “This is what we use for SWAT operations or any type of operations that require an interior search. We can send this in before exposing one of our officers to the unknown element. This carbide tip spins and will actually shatter glass,” giving them perspectives no previously available.
Chattanooga is now a national park city and we are known for outdoor adventures and hiking. For anything outdoors, he showed the Brinc Responder. “This is what we’re going to operate our drone as first responder program with,” says Miller. “This one has GPS on it. So it won’t let me fly inside because it can’t pick up the GPS signal and it won’t let me find objects I don’t need to be flying into because of the obstacle avoidance. Has a camera, has, thermal as a payload drop. Has a loudspeaker, and this one also has a cell phone built into it so that I can communicate with people on scene as well.”
Drone technology like this can save countless hours of manpower, AND will be able to help people like lost hikers in minutes rather than hours. “On average, the nationwide average is from a drone launching to on scene time. Given its radius of two miles was about 30 to 35 seconds,” says Miller.
This one has a payload drop so it could deliver first aid, water, or other supplies. Eventually the city could be able to use these for traffic accidents and similar situations so they could have eyes on the scene before emergency personnel is dispatched or notified. For our hiking friends, it can also notify responders with a location pin so they can get to them quicker and more efficiently.
