Cathedral City无人机先遣响应计划扩编：五架屋顶无人机将覆盖约九成市区
位于加州河滨县的 Cathedral City 市警察局正在扩编其「无人机先遣响应」计划：现有三架部署在屋顶的无人机，五架全部到位后预计可覆盖约九成市区。警察局长 Rick Sanchez 在该市11月5日发布的市政通讯中介绍了这一计划。
Sanchez 说，这些屋顶无人机部署在市内战略位置，可在紧急事件发生时先于地面人员抵达现场上空，把实时空中画面传回给正在响应的警员、消防员和其他市政人员，帮助他们评估危险、作出判断并决定资源投向。
扩编方面，该市正通过与科切拉谷政府协会（CVAG）的合作争取第四架屋顶无人机，并已成功取得第五架的拨款。飞行员队伍也在扩大：警察局现有八名无人机飞行员，本月另有八人接受培训，届时将有十六人可轮值出动。
无人机的用途不限于警务：火灾现场可为消防员提供空中视野；恶劣天气与洪水期间可协助公共工程部门记录灾损、判断受影响范围——热带风暴 Hilary 与 Varner Road 一带水浸都曾用上这一空中视角。
Sanchez 说，Cathedral City 是科切拉谷第二个实施屋顶无人机先遣响应计划的城市，其他城市与机构已开始把这一计划作为范本。
（来源：Cathedral City市）
Cathedral City Expands Drone First Responder Program: Five Rooftop Drones to Cover About 90% of the City
The police department in Cathedral City, a city in Riverside County, California, is expanding its Drone First Responder program: three rooftop drones are now deployed, and once all five are in place the program is expected to cover approximately 90 percent of the city limits. Police Chief Rick Sanchez described the program in the city's November 5 municipal digest.
Sanchez said the rooftop drones, placed at strategic locations across the city, can arrive over a scene before personnel on the ground and deliver real-time aerial information to responding police officers, firefighters and other city staff, helping them assess hazards, make informed decisions and determine where resources are needed.
Through a partnership with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG), a fourth rooftop drone is being pursued, and the city has secured grant funding for a fifth. The pilot team is also growing: the department currently has eight drone pilots, with eight additional personnel scheduled for training this month, expanding the roster to 16.
The benefits extend beyond police response: during an active fire the drones give firefighters an aerial view, and during severe weather and flooding they help Public Works document damage and gauge affected areas, as during Tropical Storm Hilary and flooding along Varner Road.
Sanchez said Cathedral City was the second city in the Coachella Valley to implement a rooftop Drone First Responder program, and that other cities and agencies have begun using it as a model.
(Source: City of Cathedral City)
来源：Cathedral City市
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：Cathedral City 市区街景（自加州111号公路一带望向市区与山峦）。Patrick Pelster 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Cathedral City street view near State Route 111. Photo by Patrick Pelster, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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