The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), the largest law enforcement agency in Nevada, is a combined agency for Clark County and its largest city, Las Vegas. The county covers 8,061 square miles and is home to 2.27 million people, the majority of whom reside in Las Vegas. Additionally, nearly 42 million tourists flock to Las Vegas annually. The protection of all these people, whether they are Nevada residents or tourists, falls to the approximately 5,000 employees of the LVMPD under the leadership of Sheriff Kevin McMahill.

As stated on the LVMPD website, “The vision of LVMPD is for the Las Vegas community to be the safest in America. This vision is realized by injecting humanity into every interaction and building trust with the citizens we serve. The mission of LVMPD is to provide exceptional police services in partnership with the community.” In October 2024, the LVMPD announced that they would be implementing the use of the latest drone technology to uphold the department’s vision and mission. The LVMPD joins the growing list of emergency agencies in the United States launching drone programs.

Once seen as only a military tool or hobby toy, the drone industry has become one of the fastest-growing sectors. The applications drones have for public safety are extensive, which is why thousands of police, fire, and emergency responders now rely on them. For the LVMPD, this means a new fleet of five different drone models and specially equipped vehicles for a dedicated team of officers. Many emergency departments choose to use drones made by the world’s top drone manufacturer, DJI. However, the LVMPD has made a conscientious decision to only use American-made drone technologies.

The first of the five models acquired by the LVMPD is the Perimeter 8 by Silicon Valley robotics company Skyfront. The Perimeter 8 is a long-endurance, fuel-injected hybrid drone with a maximum payload capacity of 22 pounds. The second drone, SkyRanger R70, comes from Teledyne FLIR, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies with headquarters in Oregon, WA, and Arlington, VA. This small drone was designed to be an all-in-one, easy-to-use surveillance powerhouse. Additionally, the LVMPD will be using a combination of drones from Brinc’s Lemur 2 and Skydio’s X10.

Based out of Seattle, WA, Brinc was founded by Blake Resnick, who was inspired to provide emergency responders with the tools needed to protect people after the tragic 2017 Mandalay Bay Las Vegas shooting. The Lemur 2 is a small drone with 4K day, night, and thermal vision capabilities that can even be used to break through glass. Skydio was founded by a group of MIT graduates who are recognized as pioneers in autonomous drone development. The X10 has a maximum speed of 45 mph with a 40-minute flight time. It is equipped with AI sensors that enable fully autonomous operation.

The LVMPD has trained a team of 30 officers who have all earned a Part 107 license. The department is also receiving drone assistance from civilian industry experts like Thanh Huynh, a retired U.S. Air Force drone operator. The officers will work in shifts in teams of two at all times to operate the fleet of drones. Each drone will be housed and transported in a specially outfitted vehicle. The trunk of these SUVs contains a lock box to store and charge the drones. The trunk also has a large monitor screen that pulls out on an extendable arm. The drone’s cameras will relay live images back to these monitors, where they will be observed by the officers.

While the program was officially launched at a recent press conference, the LVMPD has been testing the drones for some time and has already completed over 8,000 drone flights. During the press conference, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren explained the goals of the new drone program. He said that the drones would be used to answer emergency calls, arriving on the scene before ground patrols to provide situational awareness. He explained that with a drone already airborne at the scene of an incident, an officer can “get a better picture of what they’re dealing with—how many suspects, what the suspects have, what kind of weapons, or if they don’t have weapons. We can get intelligence in real-time to our officers who are responding, and hopefully, prevent officer-involved shootings from happening.” Assistant Sheriff Koren concluded by saying, “Ultimately, as technology continues to evolve, we hope to continue to evolve with that technology and become more advanced and be able to use drones in more innovative ways in the future.”

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