MPD shows off drone technology - The Union-Recorder

MPD shows off drone technology Published 7:00 am Friday, June 19, 2026 Cutting-edge drone technology continues to enhance safety for law enforcement officers and the public, says Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord. “We’re the first agency in the state of Georgia to utilize the Brinc Drone First Responder,” Swicord told city officials and reporters gathered Tuesday morning for a 90-minute presentation. He, along with officers and detectives with the police department, demonstrated some of the drone’s capabilities. The event, dubbed Drone First Responder Program Media Day, featured Milledgeville Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan and several other city officials, including Melba Hilson-Butts, chief of staff and interim city manager. Chief Swicord and Maj. Brandon Sellers, commander of the police department’s criminal investigation division and several detectives demonstrated some of the techniques of their newest drone, which has its own specialized shell-like home on the roof of the police department. It allows for easy access whenever and wherever it is needed. Brinc’s newest drone is called “The Responder.” It has a price tag is about $150,000, including the shell-like shelter that expands when the drone is operational. Swicord said some of the money for The Responder was generated from fines levied against drivers in school red zones. The Responder was installed in April, according to Sellers. “Being honest, we’ve had some growing pains with it — both on our end and on Brinc’s end,” Sellers said. “We’re the first agency in Georgia to have this particular system. And the other agencies to have anything like this are all in metro-Atlanta. But we’re the first for this company.” He said the police department has had to figure out some things on its end and the company has had to do the same. The company is located in Seattle, Washington. When asked what makes this particular drone different from other models, Sellers said The Responder is made to get to a scene before or close to as the same time an officer or officers. “It gives us eyes from the sky while we’re dealing with situations on the ground,” Sellers said. The Responder has an obit feature and it can go to an address and start circling. “An officer that arrives on the scene can see it from his or her computer,” Sellers said. “And if we’ve got a supervisor that’s not on the scene that wants to see what is going at the scene and make supervision calls, it gives us another eye.” Detective Phillip Vinson operated The Responder to show its capabilities during the presentation. “This is really state-of-the-art for our police department,” Parham-Copelan said. “I’m very glad we’re out front with this kind of technology.” Another feature of the new Responder is that police dispatchers can actually launch it. “So, if we get a hot call, the on-duty patrol supervisor has the ability to say send The Responder, one of our dispatchers can punch an address into the system and The Responder can take off and go,” Sellers said. Another feature of The Responder is that if the battery gets low, it will automatically return to the police department. “We can manipulate it and tell it to go home like we just did since it’s starting to rain harder,” Sellers said. The Milledgeville Police Department has five specially-trained drone pilots.