Less than 20 miles west of Austin lies the small town of Bee Cave, Texas. With a population of a little more than 9,000 people living in 6.8 square miles, Bee Cave is a tight-knit community. The Bee Cave Police Department, currently under the leadership of Chief Brian Jones, ensures that the community always feels safe. Chief Jones came to Bee Cave after spending 24 years working for the Austin Police Department. While with the Austin Police Department, Chief Jones had the opportunity to become acquainted with some of the best technology available to law enforcement agencies. In September 2024, the Bee Cave Police Department announced that they would be adopting some of these technologies to support Chief Jones’s staff of 16 active officers. In particular, the Bee Cave Police Department would be beginning a pilot program utilizing drones.

The Bee Cave Police Department will be working with eveVehicles, a startup based out of nearby Austin. Over the last decade, Austin has emerged as a technology hub in the United States. Working out of Austin’s Capital Factory, otherwise known as the Center of Gravity for Entrepreneurs in Texas, eveVehicles was founded in 2021 by Roger Pecina, Markos Salisbury, and Daniel Donaldson. EveVehicles builds drones, hubs, and software specifically catered towards law enforcement and emergency use. Their program, called AV8, combines custom-built drones, drone nests, and an operating network.

The drones are fully autonomous and have a flight time of approximately 40 minutes. They are housed in Nests that are stationed around a designated area. The Nest serves as a launchpad and charging station. It is controlled via the internet and is fully operational within 5 minutes of being installed. The Nest is securely linked to the Command Center, which feeds the drones pertinent data and vice versa. Designed in collaboration with first responders, the Command Center serves as the brain of the AV8 system.

When an emergency call comes in, the AV8 Command Center uses AI to determine which drone is closest to the address provided. The drone is then automatically launched from the Nest to the location. Along the way, the drone’s camera provides live feedback to the police department. Once the drone arrives on the scene, it continues to relay real-time data, allowing police officers to have situational awareness before they get to the scene. When the officer arrives, they can then take over as the pilot of the drone if necessary. When it is done, the drone will return to the Nest to charge. There is no time wasted with relaying information to an operator who then needs to determine the validity of a call and report it to an officer on duty. The drone eliminates that step entirely.

The Bee Cave Police Department has set up three strategic locations around the town for the nests, two of which happen to be schools. This decision was made before the mass shooting on September 4, 2024, in Georgia. But as Chief Jones said, a drone program like AV8 gives him a sense of security if such a situation were to arise in Bee Cave. “Say, for instance, the example that you use the school shooter in Georgia, heaven forbid, something like that were to happen here,” said Chief Jones, “And we had the capabilities, this drone technology capability, we would have that information before the officers even arrive at the scene, so we can better prepare to engage a suspect. We could possibly know their location before the officers arrive, and we could better respond to that situation and possibly save lives.”

As technology continues to evolve, the integration of drones into emergency response protocols represents a significant advancement in law enforcement capabilities. For Bee Cave, the adoption of the AV8 drone program marks a proactive step toward enhancing public safety and operational efficiency. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Chief Jones and his team aim not only to respond more swiftly to emergencies but also to provide their officers with crucial situational awareness. “This is just another innovation that the police department here in Bee Cave is embracing in order to better serve our community,” Chief Jones said. For the close-knit community of Bee Cave, this new drone program marks an exciting new chapter, deepening the community’s sense of security.

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