New footage released by Montgomery County Police shows drones tracking pursuits from above, giving officers a view of suspects they cannot always get from the ground.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — When a police pursuit suddenly becomes a foot chase, officers on the ground can lose sight of a fleeing suspect in seconds.
Montgomery County Police are increasingly putting another set of eyes overhead.
The department released new footage Thursday showing its Drone as First Responder program assisting officers during two pursuits — one that turned into a foot chase and another that continued on the road.
“One pursuit turns into a foot chase. Another unfolds on the road,” police said. “In both cases, the Drone as First Responder program gives officers an aerial view of the situation, helping them track what’s happening and get eyes where they’re needed.”
In the video, police officers tried to initiate a traffic stop, but the driver fled, smashing into multiple other vehicles during a brief pursuit. After a final crash, the driver jumped out the car to avoid capture, before being subdued by officers. A police drone captured the entire incident along with dashcams inside the police car.
In another incident, a drone was able to follow a stabbing suspect while police chased, alerting the officers to the attacker’s location.
Police drones can arrive before patrol officers
Montgomery County launched its Drone as First Responder program in November 2023 with an aircraft known as Raven. The idea is straightforward: send a drone directly to certain 911 and police-generated calls, sometimes before officers arrive on the ground.
That can give police a live aerial view of a scene, help locate fleeing suspects and provide responding officers with information about what they are approaching. The department said at the program’s launch that the technology was intended to improve response times, situational awareness and officer safety.
The newly released pursuit footage shows one of the more visible applications of that technology.
Instead of relying exclusively on officers following a suspect from street level, the drone can maintain an overhead view and relay what is happening to officers moving into position.
“This is real-time technology working alongside our officers when seconds matter,” Montgomery County Police said.
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Numbers show how often the drones are finding suspects
The department’s data provides a clearer picture of how extensively the system has been used.
Montgomery County Police reported 1,667 calls for service involving its Raven drones during 2024. The aircraft were first on scene 77.5% of the time, with an average first-on-scene response of just under 50 seconds.
The drones assisted officers in locating or stopping a subject or suspect during 383 calls, involving 526 people. Police reported that the drones aided in arrests during 116 calls.
The technology also allowed police to clear 271 calls before patrol officers arrived, returning 491 officers to service for other assignments.
Those figures followed rapid growth during the program’s first year, when Montgomery County expanded from its original deployment to three active drone sites.
Montgomery County plans more drone responses
The program is no longer being treated as a small pilot.
Montgomery County’s current budget documents show 1,861 drone responses to calls for service in fiscal year 2025. The county estimated 2,000 responses for FY2026 and set targets of 2,250 in FY2027 and 2,500 in FY2028.
According to the Montgomery County Police Department, the drones are intended to assess scenes, provide tactical information and improve situational awareness before or alongside responding officers.
Montgomery County also publishes reported crime information through its open-data system, which provides public access to police incident data.
The department did not provide detailed case information with Thursday’s video about the two pursuits shown, including the identities of the suspects or charges resulting from the incidents.
The footage instead offered a look at how the technology is being used once someone runs — with officers pursuing from below while Raven watches from above.