Captain Jason Cokinis, Commander of the Montgomery County Police Department’s District Three, celebrated the accomplishments of the police drone program Thursday.
“This technology has been a HUGE success for Silver Spring and Wheaton,” Cokinos said via X.
Cokinos, who has been working for MCPD for more than 18 years, shared some of the accomplishments of the program.
According to Cokinos, drones have located more than 250 criminals, allowed more than 300 officers to be cancelled from calls to go to other emergencies and has provided “real time information that has led to safer outcomes for both the community and officers.”
The news came as MCPD announced that their drone pilots completed their 1000th flight as of Thursday.
According to MCPD, the Drone as First Responder program (DFR) was initiated with goals such as lowering police response times, de-escalating incidents and assisting with locating suspects. It was recently expanded to Bethesda as the program has seen success.
