{"id":65243,"date":"2026-04-28T13:28:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65243"},"modified":"2026-04-28T13:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:28:39","slug":"lakeland-police-want-to-expand-use-of-ai-and-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/04\/28\/lakeland-police-want-to-expand-use-of-ai-and-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland police want to expand use of AI and drones\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Lakeland Police Department (LPD) is indeed moving forward with a significant push to integrate\u00a0Drones as First Responders (DFR)<\/strong>\u00a0and advanced AI analytics into its<\/span> daily operations.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While the department has utilized drones in the past, this new phase is designed to transform them from a niche tool for special units into a primary response mechanism for active calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Drones as First Responders” (DFR) Program<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The expansion aims to station automated drone docking stations at strategic “hubs” throughout the city\u2014likely on rooftops of fire stations or municipal buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The Workflow:<\/strong> When a 911 call comes in, a drone can be remotely deployed and arrive at the scene in minutes\u2014often beating patrol cars navigating traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • AI Integration:<\/strong> These drones utilize AI-driven software (via platforms like Axon<\/strong> or Skydio<\/strong>) for autonomous flight and object tracking, providing a “bird\u2019s-eye view” that helps officers assess threats or locate fleeing suspects before they even step out of their vehicles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Tactical Advantage:<\/strong> In high-risk situations like the recent shootout on East Main Street, these drones provide thermal imaging and mapping to establish perimeters without putting officers in immediate line of sight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Smart Tech & The “Force Multiplier”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    LPD has been clear that this isn’t just about the hardware; it\u2019s about the data. The department is leaning into AI-enhanced evidence management<\/strong> through the Axon platform, which integrates drone footage directly with its existing fleet of dashboard cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Technology<\/th>Primary Use Case in Lakeland<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Skydio Drones<\/strong><\/td>Rapid response to active crimes and missing person searches.<\/td><\/tr>
    BRINC Drones<\/strong><\/td>Specialized SWAT and tactical operations (indoor flight\/breaching).<\/td><\/tr>
    Flock AI (ALPR)<\/strong><\/td>Automated license plate recognition to track stolen vehicles or suspect leads.<\/td><\/tr>
    Axon Evidence<\/strong><\/td>AI-driven tagging and sorting of video data for detectives.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Export to Sheets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Privacy and Policy Guardrails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    To address the “creepy” factor of increased surveillance, LPD operates under strict Florida statutes that were updated in recent years. This means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • No Foreign Tech:<\/strong> All drones must be American-made (replacing older DJI models) to prevent potential cybersecurity leaks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Warrant Requirements:<\/strong> Officers generally cannot fly drones over private property to gather evidence without a warrant or specific “exigent circumstances” (like immediate danger or potential destruction of evidence).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Transparency:<\/strong> The department has emphasized that these are used as “safety tools” rather than for general, continuous surveillance of law-abiding citizens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Lakeland Police Department (LPD) is indeed moving forward with a significant push to integrate\u00a0Drones as First Responders (DFR)\u00a0and advanced AI analytics into its daily operations. While the department has… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDRcL2ltYWdlcy0xMi53ZWJwP2ZpdD0yNTklMkMxOTQmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYWtlbGFuZCBwb2xpY2Ugd2FudCB0byBleHBhbmQgdXNlIG9mIEFJIGFuZCBkcm9uZXNcdTAwYTAiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.FcJkoJUIx4rMSIxEEwPQfB3k7qVEQZB45deEw7emAK4MQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA0XC9pbWFnZXMtMTIud2VicCIsInR4dCI6Ikxha2VsYW5kIHBvbGljZSB3YW50IHRvIGV4cGFuZCB1c2Ugb2YgQUkgYW5kIGRyb25lc1x1MDBhMCIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.NPU4x-1kSvNOmt4OPqGlDpB1rHeOrbuPzoZTTtSJb9YMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14489],"class_list":["post-65243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakeland-police-want-to-expand-use-of-ai-and-drones"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65245,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65243\/revisions\/65245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}