Amarillo Police Department receives 3 new drones for a total of 10

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Amarillo Police Department Regional Crime Center has new drones on the way.

The APD has used drones for a year and a half and will now receive three new drones with docking stations and radars.

“A drone is really just a camera in the air so it can basically feed that camera image and data and stream back to the officers so the officers can see what they’re getting into before they get there,” said Lt. Shane Chadwick, commander over the Intelligence and analysis unit and project manager for the Amarillo Regional Crime Center.

The new drones add to the police department’s force with a total of 10 drones.

The main goal of the drones is to keep the public and officers safe.

“The idea is to basically send those out in advance of officers arriving so they have an idea and situational awareness for what’s going on on the ground,” said Chadwick.

The department is working to remote pilot or fly without an officer present.

APD is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure the remote piloting does not interfere with air traffic using radar and video.