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Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs are rapidly transforming public safety by providing police departments with advanced tools to enhance their response capabilities. These programs allow drones to be deployed immediately when a call for service comes in, arriving on scene before officers to provide crucial real-time aerial views. As DFR programs continue to evolve, they are revolutionizing emergency response, offering quicker, more efficient situational awareness and improving outcomes in critical incidents.
In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, we dive into how Fremont, California, is leading the way with a joint police and fire DFR program. By collaborating across departments, Fremont’s DFR initiative is transforming emergency response times and enhancing situational awareness for both police and firefighters.
Host Jim Dudley interviews three key members of the Fremont DFR program: Lieutenant Heidi Kindorf and Sergeant Ken Kwok from the Fremont Police Department, and Deputy Fire Chief Heather Mozdean from the Fremont Fire Department. Together, they shed light on the city’s unique, collaborative drone as first responder (DFR) program, where police and fire departments work side-by-side to deploy drones in emergency situations. The guests discuss how this joint effort enables faster response times, better situational awareness, and more effective coordination between police and fire personnel.
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About our guests
Lieutenant Heidi Kindorf brings almost two decades of law enforcement experience to her current role as Police Lieutenant overseeing the Professional Standards Unit (personnel, training, and internal affairs) at the Fremont Police Department. She earned her bachelor’s degree in criminology from California State University, Fresno, and is a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute #465. Heidi joined the Fremont Police Department in 2011 as a lateral officer, following five years of service with the San Jose Police Department.
Throughout her career, Heidi has held diverse roles including Field Training Officer, Hostage Negotiations Team (HNT) member/supervisor, Property Crimes Detective, Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Detective, Personnel Sergeant, and Watch Commander. In addition to her current responsibilities, she oversees several collateral units including the department’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Drone as First Responder program (DFR).
Sergeant Ken Kwok has been an officer with the Fremont Police Department for 18 years. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine with his bachelor’s degree in criminology, and San Jose State University with a master’s in justice studies. He was hired by the Fremont Police Department in 2006 and attended the San Jose Police Department Academy. He has held assignments such as a Crime Scene Investigator, Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Detective, Fraud Detective, Field Training Officer, and SWAT Technology Officer. He was one of the first Officers who deployed Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for the department and helped create the UAS unit in 2016. He is currently the sergeant in charge of the UAS unit, specifically the Drone as First Responder program.
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean joined the City of Fremont in January 2023. Prior to Fremont, Chief Mozdean served as Deputy Chief of Operations for the Oakland (California) Fire Department. During her 19 years with the Oakland Fire Department (OFD), Heather worked as a firefighter with specialties in Hazardous Materials, Heavy Rescue, Water Rescue, a member of the California Task Force 4 (CATF-4) Urban Search and Rescue Team in the planning section. She worked with the Emergency Management Services Division to revitalize a Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Oakland.
As the Deputy Chief in Fremont, she oversees the Operations, Administration, Training and EMS Divisions. She is excited about the future of the Fremont Fire Department and seeks to continue to build upon the legacy of excellence and leadership. Throughout her career, Chief Mozdean has sought to advocate for fairness, equity, and inclusion in the Fire Service. She is a frequent contributor to the Women in Fire podcast.
Memorable quotes
- “Our DFR program is a joint public safety model, with police and fire working together to implement this technology for our city.” — Lieutenant Heidi Kindorf
- “With this joint DFR model, it enables police officers to fly for fire incidents and vice versa, making it more robust.” — Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean
- “We do have a transparency portal for our DFR flights right now that shows all of our flights absent of some sort of critical investigation that we can’t release that flight data. We’re posting everything, and we’re transparent. " — Sergeant Ken Kwok
Key takeaways
- Joint operations enhance efficiency: Fremont’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) program is unique because it’s a collaborative effort between police and fire departments. This joint approach allows both departments to assist each other more effectively and respond faster to emergencies, leveraging shared resources.
- Drones improve situational awareness: By deploying drones before officers or firefighters arrive on the scene, commanders can gain a comprehensive understanding of situations in real time. This enhances decision-making, resource allocation, and response time for both departments.
- Community transparency and engagement: Fremont has prioritized transparency and community engagement throughout the drone program’s development. Hosting community meetings and creating a transparency portal for drone flights has helped build public trust and address concerns.
- Drones as force multipliers: The ability to use drones for a wide range of incidents — from barricades and hostage situations to hazmat scenarios and disaster response — allows departments to stretch their limited human resources. This technology functions as a force multiplier, helping officers and firefighters cover more ground efficiently.
- Technology is rapidly advancing: The advancement in drone technology, including the ability to fly autonomously and provide thermal imaging, is making these tools more versatile and valuable. As the technology continues to evolve, departments are finding new ways to utilize drones, such as for fire inspections and large-scale event monitoring.
Additional resources
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Episode transcript
Jim Dudley: I’m your host, Jim Dudley. Welcome back, or welcome if it’s your first time listening. Be sure to check us out on YouTube as well. Three years ago, I spoke with then-Captain Don Redmond of the Chula Vista Police Department about their robust drone program and their Live 911 program. Today, we’re hearing more and more about agencies deploying drones as first responders (DFR) programs. Today, we have a few members of the Fremont, California, Police Department and Fire Department to walk us through their program—pun intended.
First, I’d like to welcome Police Lieutenant Heidi Kindorf. In addition to her current capabilities and responsibilities, she oversees several collateral units, including the Department’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and the Drone as First Responder (DFR) program. Welcome, Lieutenant Kindorf.
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: Good morning, Jim. Thank you for having us.
Jim Dudley: Sure. And also from the Fremont Police Department, we have Police Sergeant Ken Quac. He was one of the first officers who deployed the UAS for the department and helped create the unit in 2016. He is currently the Sergeant in charge of the UAS unit, specifically the Drone as First Responder program. Welcome, Sergeant Quac.
Sgt. Ken Kwok: Good morning, sir. How are you?
Jim Dudley: I’m doing great. Not a “sir,” but thanks! And finally, from the Fire Department, we have Deputy Chief Heather Mosin. Chief Mosin joined the City of Fremont in January 2023. Before Fremont, she served as Deputy Chief of Operations for the Oakland Fire Department. Welcome, Deputy Chief Mosin.
Chief Heather Mosin: Good morning, thank you for having me.
Jim Dudley: Great to have you all here! Lieutenant Kindorf, can you describe how your Drone as First Responder program is different from others?
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: Absolutely. Our program is different from the traditional DFR programs that most public safety agencies use because it’s a joint effort between our police and fire departments. Since the inception of drones in the City of Fremont, we’ve worked collaboratively to drive both programs forward. Our DFR program is a joint public safety model, with police and fire working together to implement this technology for our city.
Chief Heather Mozdean: And to add to that on the fire side, I think a traditional kind of drone model, as people might experience it, is when you get to an incident, you fly a drone for that specific event. But in this model, the drones take off when the call comes in. With this joint DFR model, it enables police officers to fly for fire incidents and vice versa, making it more robust. This way, drones can get on scene faster, and we have redundancy through inter-departmental support.
Jim Dudley: Right. So, Sergeant Kwok, there are so many varieties of drones out there, so many vendors and types of drones. I know early on in DFR programs and UAS programs, you often had to have a trained, specified officer with line of sight vision, operating from a console, and pretty much, you know, guiding them to specific locations. But now, they’re almost autonomous. Tell us a little bit about the nuts and bolts and the types of calls that you’re sending drones to.
Sgt. Ken Kwok: I think you hit the nail on the head when you’re talking about the advancement of technology. When we first started this program back in 2016, we were using Phantom 3s and Phantom 4s, which were DJI platforms. Essentially, they were hobbyist drones — they weren’t built for public safety. But since then, the market has definitely moved toward the needs of having thermal cameras, FLIR and all the support systems that we need to accomplish our missions. What we fly for right now are public safety and life preservation missions. That can include barricaded suspects, hostage situations, active shooters, fleeing suspects, and high-risk search warrants. We will deploy for anything that can basically be a public safety and life preservation mission. On top of that, if need be — God forbid — mass casualty events, lost or missing persons, rescue events, disaster response. We’ve deployed our drone several times for flooding that happened in Niles Canyon, where a unified command had to be established for both fire and police. Just recently, unfortunately, we had a fire up in our Mission Hills, but fortunately, we had DFR running at that time where we could provide actionable intelligence to the firefighters and police officers on the ground if we had to end up evacuating people from those disaster areas. We have used our drones for suspected explosive devices and we have also deployed them for fire suppression investigations as well as hazmat scenarios. All that to say that our drones are being deployed a lot more often, pretty much for any police or public safety-related call where life is possibly being threatened. And the technology is advancing so quickly as well that it’s making our jobs truly a lot easier.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, and of course, you know, we can think of all the advantages of a drone getting there before a patrol unit to check out weapons on scene, suspects’ directions of travel — all those things, ambush points, maybe. But in day-to-day operations, traffic collisions, evidence-laden scenes where, you know, I’ve worked with BRINC and I’ve just visited Skydio headquarters nearby, and the capabilities of using them to document crime scenes, I mean, to the inch, to the millimeter, really reduces officer time in actually going out with, you know, measurements and documentation afterward. Are you using it for those kinds of things as well?
Sgt. Ken Kwok: Yes, actually, we use Pix4D, which is a mapping software that we’ve been using. We’re also looking into other technology like the Faro for the drones. I was a CSI for five years, and we actually used total stations back in the day — it was point and click, point and click. It would take us hours to do a very extensive scene. Right now, we’ve documented officer-involved shootings, shootings, stabbings where we have a large, large scene. And we can fly that drone and basically hit those points with Pix4D, and we can do it within the matter of half an hour, something that would have traditionally taken us a couple of hours. And not only does that preserve our deployment power with our officers, but it also frees up our officers to go to other critical emergencies if those pop off. It really is a force multiplier when it comes to our department.
Jim Dudley: Absolutely. And Chief Mozdean, we heard about the possibilities for search and rescue. What other kinds of fire-related calls are you using it for?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: We can use it for structure fires, for vegetation fires, for hazmat incidents, as Sergeant Kwok said. We can use it for plume modeling, kind of anything where an aerial view is advantageous, which is on a lot of incidents, but particularly useful in the wildland setting so we can see exactly how fast the flame front’s moving or the direction that it’s moving. For structure fires, we can look at exposure threats, so it’s really, really useful. And then, in flooding, to search for victims that may be in the water. These drones can put out a heat signature, so we’ve used them for water rescues. It’s incredibly useful for both fire and rescue operations.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, and I’d like to ask both you and Lieutenant Kindorf about the ability for off-site command personnel. If we have a mass casualty incident or even just a large event where there are no issues or problems, the ability to deploy a drone and for you to sit back at an operations center — an off-site operations center. You know, we have our line officers on scene handling it, boots on the ground, trying to track people down, arrest them, gather evidence, put water on the fire and all that. How is it, sitting back at that operations center, being able to see things that maybe the first responder can’t see? And so you’re making moves and getting it there. How have drones been as far as giving you that kind of material that you haven’t had before?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: I think for us, it’s a game-changer because typically, command folks in those command rooms are almost blind visually, right? Your intel is largely based on radio traffic, and so you’re trying to create this picture based on radio traffic that you hear. But now we have this other element where, all of a sudden, yes, you can see what the crews see, but also you can see additional information that they can’t see. So you’re able to be a much more valuable resource, and you’re better informed. So it’s a total game-changer for us in that realm.
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: Yeah, and to expand on that, especially for us on the PD side, right? I mean, before doing a roll call for containment on some sort of scene, it was all just verbal and saying, “Hey, I’m at A-B cross street” or whatnot. But now, actually being able to have a drone — DFR or patrol deployment — be able to get that in the air and also lock down the scene and provide overwatch instantaneously as something is unfolding. And then also, for our watch commanders or captains, when we do have those types of scenarios or situations, to be able to have that live stream video to double-check, triple-check, and or contingency plan. Right, that’s what it’s all about — making sure that we’ve got all our figurative I’s dotted and T’s crossed to make sure that we’re operating to our most effective ability.
Jim Dudley: So often in those off-site platforms, you have others than police, fire, maybe public health, who can see the feeds from the drones. Can someone with the IP address off-site log on and watch from there as well, or do you clamp it down? Do you have some sort of a safeguard so that others can’t see it?
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: We do have a safeguard. We run an operating system — DroneSense is the platform that our agency and city currently use to operate all of our UAS deployments, including our DFR deployments. So we can send links out, and there is a group. So anytime one of our drones deploys, there is a set group list that gets a link to be able to view that video of that flight. But you can also do ad hoc emails and basically send that on the spot. So if it’s a joint operation mission, say, with one of our neighboring cities in any direction, if we link up with their incident commander or whatnot and they want to see the video, we could absolutely do that. If, for some reason, we’re working with somebody in the city that doesn’t have that link already being sent to them, we can easily add that very quickly.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, you know, Chief Mozdean, with your oversight of EMS, I remember back in the day, jumping in the back of an ambulance rig, getting to the hospital, and they’re online essentially with the hospital, giving information as they’re en route. Are the drones being used in that capacity? Are we seeing doctors in the ER viewing injuries on scene, things like that? Are you using it for those kinds of issues?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: Not at this point, largely because with the exception of vehicle accidents and things that happen outside, most EMS calls that we respond to are inside, and there’s no application for drones inside. So we’re still relying on good old technology for relaying information. Although technology has improved — we can now send EKGs and stuff via our monitors — we’re not using drones for that sort of EMS stuff now. It may be useful in an MCI incident or a water rescue, just to paint a better picture to the ER staff about what happened, to provide a greater understanding of the mechanism of injury or something. But largely, we’re not using it for the EMS capacity.
Jim Dudley: So, what are the challenges? What’s been the biggest concern? What’s the community reaction? Any of you have experience going to a meeting where you’re talking about the drone and hearing some concerns or challenges from the community?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: The community in Fremont has largely been very, very accepting of this. So we haven’t really heard much pushback, and I haven’t heard much on the fire side. I’ll let Heidi and Ken sort of speak to the PD side, but largely the community has embraced this in a way that’s really, really awesome.
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: To expand on what Deputy Chief Mosin said, our community is absolutely in love with this technology. I think they understand what it does and how it actually improves everything that we do, both on the fire side and the PD side. It makes each time we go out into the community, it makes us all that much more effective. We actually did last year a series of in-person and virtual presentations specifically around DFR, and Ken Kwok specifically led two out of the three of those to do exactly what you’re talking about — engage with the community, hear their concerns, give them a platform to express anything. Largely, it was none of our community members expressing any concerns. We had a few minor concerns, but they were not from anybody based in our community. So I’ll let Ken talk a little bit more about that.
Sgt. Ken Kwok: Yeah, you know, we’ve been very transparent from the very beginning. Since we created this unit back in 2016, we’ve had numerous community presentations, we’ve had numerous outreach events. We’ve proactively sent our UAV teams out into the public to engage the community, to show them that we have nothing to hide — that these tools are exactly that, tools. There are still officers behind these tools, there are people that are flying these drones, we have strict policies in place governing what we can and can’t fly for. I think this has been a litmus test for truly how well our engagement efforts have been with our community, that we’ve been able to outreach and engage and talk and be transparent. And part of that is also not hiding our flights either. So we do have a transparency portal for our DFR flights right now, which show all of our flights absent of some sort of critical investigation that we can’t release that flight data. We’re posting everything, and we’re transparent. We’ve engaged the community, and this wasn’t just a shoot-from-the-hip kind of scenario when it came to this community engagement. We’ve been engaging since we really started this program back in 2016. So I would say that the challenges haven’t been so negative. I’d say it’s curiosity. I think people want to know what the capability of these drones are, and they’re excited to see what we can do. Hopefully, we can serve the community better from the fire and police side.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, that’s great to hear. I know some communities — my own former department, San Francisco PD, has had a tough time getting any kind of technology up in the air or on a pole. We’ve heard of communities — Chicago right now is pushing back on ShotSpotter. They don’t want ShotSpotter in their city, despite the ubiquity of cameras everywhere today. It’s still, for me, curious how a city can fight back on technology, especially with such, you know, diminishing forces — police and even fire now. I want to throw it out there to both police and fire. What are the limits? What have you seen as the limits of the program? How extensive can it be? Sergeant Kwok, you talked about the capabilities of your drones now, and what I heard was they’re almost described as we would have described a bomb robot or some of the other technology that we’ve used in barricaded suspect situations. In the past, we’ve used a throw phone or things like that. I know some of the drones have a hovering capability, the capability to break glass, get inside, and move around. What have you seen as far as the limits of your program?
Sgt. Ken Kwok: I would say the limits are, anytime that you have technology, you have to automatically prepare for it not to work. And there have been some troubleshooting issues when it comes to technology. I mean, that’s with every technology — that’s the MDTs you have in your computer, that’s your code 3 lights. Sometimes things don’t work the way they’re designed to, and you just have to work the problem. So, with the advancement of technology, with the advancement of our capabilities, there’s also been an advancement of troubleshooting as well. There are times when the system doesn’t work according to plan, and you just have to work the problem. And that’s just like anything else — you have your cell phone that won’t work in certain dead spots, same with our drones. Sometimes there’s some radio frequency interference that definitely limits the range of our drone deployments, but you’ve just got to work the problem. I’m fortunate that I have 26 other officers and CSOs that work with me, and with that comes a lot of different experience. I have one guy that used to work for IT, and a couple of others that were in the private sector and former tech folks. You just have to work it. It’s not like a Nintendo where you can take out the cartridge and blow on it — it’s a little bit different than that — but we definitely do a lot of troubleshooting. The limits are that with the byproduct of having more capabilities, you will have to do more troubleshooting.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, it seems they’re much more simplified than IT applications were. When we first got into computers, we had the IT specialist who came in and spoke a different language. It was the old “Saturday Night Live skit: “Move, get away, let me do it.” Drones are much more easily accessible. Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean, I want to ask you about the fire applications. If I’m thinking about some of the current fire situations in Northern California, you’ve got a ton of smoke, really windy conditions, and other climate conditions that are actually inspired by the fire itself. What have you seen as far as your capabilities of getting in or out of a fire situation?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: Yeah, those are things we definitely have to consider. The thermal lift, the smoke conditions, obviously wind, weather. On a large incident, there may be a lot of other aircraft in the air, so we may not be able to fly drones. There are definitely considerations. And then, some other fire considerations are in a hazmat incident: What’s that chemical, and do we want to put a drone in it? Just like a consideration we’d make for a person, that’s not a cheap piece of equipment — we don’t want to destroy it by flying it into something that’s toxic or that will destroy it. There are considerations that we do have to make. One of the biggest limitations we’re seeing on the fire side is just staffing. We have firefighters trained in fire suppression, and we largely need them to do that. When we need a drone responder, it takes away from firefighting. So we need to expand our view in that way, get more pilots trained so we have a greater workforce that can supplement this system.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, and when we talk about drones being on a frequency — back in the day, when we were responding to EOD or bomb calls, whether intentional or accidental or an act of terrorism, we were all told to turn off our radios for the frequencies. Any consideration, Sergeant Kwok or Lieutenant Kindorf, regarding EOD situations and drones being used there? Is there some hesitancy?
Sgt. Ken Kwok: So we have not had any active EOD calls where we’ve done that, but there is talk in the ecosystem of drones of using these for EOD circumstances with live ordnance. The answer to that has always been, “I will always sacrifice my drone if it saves a life.” If we are able to contain this mechanism or grenade or whatever it is within a certain radius, and if it sets it off with the drone, at least somebody else didn’t get hurt by it. And I think that’s why these drones were created and why we use them. Truly, if we can destroy a $3,000–$5,000 drone to save a life, we’ll do it every single time. Whether it’s a bomb robot or a drone inspecting an ordnance, we will very happily sacrifice one of our drones to save a life.
Jim Dudley: Lieutenant Kindorf, want to jump in on that?
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: No, I think Ken succinctly put that. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a tool, right? We have to use the tools at our disposal to render any scene safe. If there is an EOD, either suspected or confirmed at a scene, we’ll weigh out the risks and rewards and then figure out what’s going to be the best way to render the scene safe. It’s very similar to the robots that EOD teams deploy to help assist. Maybe it’s in conjunction with one of those, right? It’s providing overwatch as they maneuver the robot to help render that device safe. If the blast radius takes down a UAS, for the greater good, that’s totally okay. But again, we haven’t experienced that here in Fremont yet, but it’s something that there are plenty of contingency plans and training on how we can best utilize this equipment.
Jim Dudley: Listen, I want to wrap up, being respectful of your time. I want to ask about the autonomy of drones. I know, again, Skydio’s got this rooftop deployment system where drones are almost autonomous. I say almost because there’s always going to be a human monitoring the flight and progress. Are drones being used to take police and fire reports? On the fire side, every six years, I’ve got to clean up around my cabin and make sure firewood is stacked, stuff is off the ground, fuel off the ground. Are you doing fire inspections with drones, either residential or commercial properties, things like that?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: We’re not using that right now. It is an amazing tool, and we’ve thought about that as one of the things we could use it for. There are some remote areas where it’s very difficult to get people into, and drones could be a great solution for that. We’re not there yet, but the program has a lot of growth to do, and we’re excited about the future of it and its capabilities.
Jim Dudley: Lieutenant Kindorf, are you sending drones out in advance or in place of humans to take any kinds of reports?
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: Not reports, but specifically with de-escalation and those kinds of things. Using a UAS, especially in the DFR model, where as the call’s coming in, you hear it and you’re like, “Hey, as officers are going, we can oftentimes beat officers on scene and assess the situation, confirm or dispel whether there is a weapon involved or not.” That really allows our officers to respond and utilize their tools to the best of their ability. Ultimately, it’s all about safety — safety for the community, safety for the responding public safety personnel. We aren’t taking reports yet, although I could see in the future, as these pieces of technology become more robust, being able to go, fly, land, and then basically record. But no, we’re not there yet. But it is something that we definitely try to utilize and leverage to the best of our ability to provide the best service to our community.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, and I mentioned the diminishing numbers of personnel and the ability for drones to fill the gaps. I’m thinking about some of the local agencies, the smaller agencies, that say, “Hey, we just don’t have enough people to go check every silent alarm, Fourth of July, or New Year’s Eve.” How many calls do you get on the police and fire side for fireworks or what might sound like gunshots? Do you have a plan to say, “Hey, this is a list of when we’re going to send a drone in place of real people”? I think in those situations where agencies have just said, “Hey, we’re not going anymore,” it just makes sense to send a drone.
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: Yeah, it absolutely does. And I think because staffing is at an all-time critical level across the nation — I think many agencies are experiencing exponentially higher vacancies than they have the previous decades before us — how do we combat that but still deliver the same or better service? I think doing exactly what you’re talking about and re-evaluating how we can respond to calls and utilizing the technology and tools such as drones, especially the DFR model, is critical. The call comes in, and we ask, “Hey, do we have a drone available?” We can launch it, and either clear the call — meaning, “Hey, this isn’t something that police or fire needs to go to” — or redeploy officers and firefighters to other scenes. This is critical when we are only working with so many. Our bandwidth is only so broad right now. We are all actively working to fill our vacancies. If you’re looking for a job, we are hiring, so please check out our website. But yeah, utilizing this technology for being able to clear calls and use our resources to the best of our ability is absolutely something that we try to do day in and day out.
Jim Dudley: Yeah, I saw what you just did there with the recruiting — that was a good move, nice job. Hey, Sergeant Kwok, I want to end with you. I think about — I’ll put you on the spot — if you said, “Hey, I’m the guy in charge, and we’re not using drones for this yet, but I want to start tomorrow using drones for ___.”
Sgt. Ken Kwok: I would say that we’re definitely using drones to supplement our patrol staffing, and we’re definitely using drones to help give that different perspective that an officer wouldn’t have on the ground or a firefighter wouldn’t have on the ground. We’re using drones to save lives, and that’s ultimately what it comes down to. Whether it’s the public, an officer, or a firefighter, we are using these drones to give us a force multiplier to help save lives. I know we talk about drones as being the newest thing — it’s kind of like drones and the real time crime center. I know those are the two real catchphrases in police departments across the country right now. But I think what we need to emphasize, too, is who’s behind those drones. There are skilled officers working behind those drones — we’re not just sending the drone to the scene, we’re sending a tool so the person monitoring the situation can allocate resources appropriately. That’s what drones are doing — they’re giving capabilities and perspective to a skilled police officer or firefighter to allocate resources appropriately to save lives.
Jim Dudley: Awesome. Deputy Chief Mozdean, any final thoughts on the fire side?
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: I just kind of want to reiterate what Sergeant Kwok said. Drones are an amazing tool, but we can’t lose sight of how important the human aspect is to customer service in both the police and fire departments. When citizens call, we can send a drone out and get a lot of information and Intel, but ultimately they need somebody there who’s going to be able to help solve their problem with some compassion, relate to them, and explain to them. There’s an amazing capability that drones will offer us, but it’s not going to take away from the customer service that we have to provide in order to be good public servants for our citizens.
Jim Dudley: So, we’re not just sending robots out — just yet.
Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean: Not yet, and I don’t know if we ever will, but we’ll see.
Jim Dudley: Maybe, we’ll see. Lieutenant Kindorf, thanks so much. Any final remarks?
Lt. Heidi Kindorf: No, thank you, Jim. It’s been an absolute pleasure to speak with you this morning. On behalf of the City of Fremont, the fire department, and the police department, we appreciate your time and having us on your show to talk a little bit about our program.
Jim Dudley: My pleasure. Police Lieutenant Heidi Kindorf, Police Sergeant Ken Kwok, and Fire Department Deputy Chief Heather Mozdean from Fremont, California — thank you all for sharing today. I would imagine if we’ve got some agencies looking at a DFR, Drone as First Responder program, they can seek you out. We’ve got some links for our listeners, we’ve got your full bios, we’ve got descriptions of your program, and some other media. If our listeners or viewers are watching and want more information, it’s there for you. Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
And to our listeners, thanks for listening, thanks for viewing. Hope you enjoyed today’s program. And like I just said, there are links in the show notes for you to learn more. If you have questions for today’s guests, you can look them up or drop me an email at policingmatters@police1.com. That’s policingmatters@police1.com. Hope I can answer the questions or make the links for you. And let me know if you have a good idea for a show or somebody you want to hear from or something you want to hear about. Happy to research that for you. All right, take good care, thanks for stopping in, and stay safe. Hope to talk to you again real soon.
