MANSFIELD, Ohio — It has been eighteen months since the city of Cleveland bought nine drones for police, yet its fleet is still grounded.
Cleveland is now vetting vendors for a First Responder Drone, which is technology that the city of Mansfield is already testing out.
Mansfield Safety Service Director Keith Porch set up a demonstration to show how it works. The drone sits inside a mechanical box perched on a rooftop overlooking the downtown area. It can fly 335 feet high over three square miles from the public safety building, almost completely autonomously.
“It may go out on anything right now, but we do have certain criteria. It goes out on auto accidents, it goes out on structure fires, PD side and fire side as well, missing persons,” said Assistant Fire Chief Rob Garn.
The drone is part of the workflow for 911 dispatchers. As soon as a call comes in, dispatchers punch in the address and drop a pin for the drone. Once over a scene, it gives a real-time 360-degree view for emergency officials.
“The drone is not worried about stop signs or getting to a call. It’s 33 miles an hour getting immediately there to be able to assess that situation,” Porch said.
The drone, fire or police are dispatched simultaneously.
“We’re not going to delay a response for the drone to see what we have going on,” Garn said.
But having the eyes above gives Mansfield the option to pull back ground crews to avoid accidents while on the way or save the crews for something bigger.
“There’s been examples of that drone getting there and maybe it’s the fence that’s on fire or a shed and not the house, so we don’t have five trucks racing across town,” Porch said.
The city of Cleveland is evaluating proposals from eight vendors after putting out a request for quotes for a First Responder Drone.
But for now, there are no Cleveland drones in the sky, not even for police.
News 5 Investigators spoke with Police Chief Annie Todd about drones back in April.
“I know a lot of the suburban agencies currently have drones. Bigger cities throughout Ohio use drones as well,” Todd said.
Cleveland bought nine drones in February 2024. At the time, they didn’t know they were ordered. News 5 Investigators uncovered an invoice for $255,000 for drones, equipment and software.
RELATED: ON ORDER: Cleveland police drones on wish list for years only recently purchased
“We’re hoping to have the drones up and running this summer is what we’re planning for right now,” Todd said.
Drones are not new to Mansfield public safety, as they’ve had them since 2017. The city has 11 drone pilots between police and fire.
Porch says their pilot program for this next generation of drones is attracting attention from other cities.
“The drones are not going to be able to come out of the sky to apprehend anybody or the drone is not going to extinguish a fire. Those are always going to be left for personnel,” Porch said.
Another tool, Porch says, tucked away until the next emergency in the city.
Porch says at the end of the year, the police and fire chief will discuss if this program is of value to the safety forces and the citizens of Mansfield.
