BY Spectrum News Staff Rochester

Apr. 11, 2025

The Rochester Police Department is looking into the expanded use of drones.

A test program would add drones as first responders to scenes along with officers, but not replace them.

The month-and-a-half program started at the beginning of April.

The idea, according to RPD Capt. Greg Bello, is an increased response time.

"There's a time when someone is bleeding out from a gunshot wound, that's valuable time,” Bello said. “With ShotSpotter, that's huge. But now you tie a drone to it with an immediate first response of a drone that shows, ‘oh my gosh, you have a victim there.’ Now we're starting an ambulance that much quicker.