Portland Police will start using drones as a first responder in a pilot program at East Precinct.
Gresham Police are supplying the drones. They started a program in 2023.
PPB Commander Franz Schoening says the drones will get to an incident first.
Portland's program must follow specific rules. While enroute to an incident, the camera must look at the horizon and can't look down on private property. Police can only use the drone for surveillance if there's a warrant, a criminal incident or a life-threatening emergency.