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Ohio city to use drone as a ‘first responder’

Safety service director demonstrates DFR technology to city council

By Carl Hunnell, Richland Source

MANSFIELD, Ohio — An autonomous drone may soon serve as a “first responder” for the City of Mansfield safety forces.

“When a call comes in at 123 Main Street, the (911) dispatcher hits that address, the box opens, the drone immediately (flies out) without a drone pilot or without a visual observer being there,” Safety Service Director Keith Porch said Tuesday evening.

“It automatically goes and it hovers over that address,” Porch said during a demonstration of the new technology to members of City Council as local lawmakers gathered before their scheduled meeting.

Read the full story here: Autonomous drone: Mansfield set to deploy eye in the sky as ‘first responder’

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