Across the United States of America the second Tuesday in August (with a few exceptions that celebrate on the second Tuesday of October) has been celebrated as National Night Out by thousands of communities.  It is a program that began in 1984 when 2.5 million residents from 400 communities simply sat outside with their neighbors to enjoy the evening.  Since then the program has continued to grow.  National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch with the aim to foster a relationship between police forces and the communities they serve.  It allows officers to meet and enjoy some time with the citizens of their community and educate them on the many police programs offered.

Some of these programs include a town or neighborhood watch, anti crime efforts, drug prevention programs, safety demonstrations, first aid awareness, and much more.  There are parades, music and entertainment, and of course food to enjoy as well.  This year the National Night Out celebration that was held in San Pablo, CA was set to be a night to be remembered.  Besides the usual roster of activities, the San Pablo Police Department was proud to introduce to their community an exciting new program.  The department recently purchased three new drones to aid in daily police activities.

San Pablo is a community in the San Francisco Bay Area with a very diverse population.  Several police departments in the Bay area have embraced drone technologies for some time now.  But San Pablo is the first community to acquire a drone of the caliber that they introduced to their residents at this year’s National Night Out.  San Pablo’s three new drones have a revolutionary new battery that can allow the drones to stay airborne for more than an hour at a time, the Impossible US-1 Drone.

The drones were made by Impossible Aerospace, a company that designs drones with the specific needs of government and sensitive agencies.  The company is based out of Santa Clara, CA and has a verified US Federal Vendor Contract.  With a total weight of 18.5lbs (this includes the drone and added camera payload) the drone can fly up to 40mph for 78 minutes with a radio range up to 2 miles.  The Lithium-ion 1.2 kWh battery that provides the drone with superior flight time can also reach a charge of 25-75% in just 35 minutes.  The drone is equipped with a FLIR Duo Pro R Thermal/Optical Imaging Camera, however if desired you can contact Impossible Aerospace about adding a different camera system. 

The Impossible US-1 has been being used for locating pipe leaks, fighting fires, tracking armed suspects and other police functions like how it is set to do in San Pablo.  Capt. Brian Bubar of the San Pablo Police Department is looking forward to how these drones will help his officers.  He said, “We believe they will keep our community safer and our officers much safer.  The way we deploy, our officers will be able to deploy the drone within two minutes, and we’ll be able to get responding officers information about a scene before they get there.”  Technological advancements like drones can be life saving assets for police officers.  Bubar went on to explain, “Say, we respond to an incident, and it’s in an area where we can’t get officers there as quickly as we like.  We can respond with these drones immediately, and not worry about battery strength.”

Events like National Night Out are critical in providing communities with the information they need.  It helps to strengthen relationships between police officers and residents, providing a stronger sense of security, and proving to criminals that our communities are united and protected.  With more and more police departments utilizing drone technology these communities are being given all the tools they need to provide the best environment to live and work in.

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