Mt. Juliet Police Department Chief Tyler Chandler said he thinks new technologies can be helpful tools for public safety.
That’s why the department will move forward with an around-the-clock drone program starting in September.
The city will place a drone base this summer at Fire Station No. 3, which is on the south side of town. It sees the most emergency calls.
Continuing coverage: Drones in Tennessee
Chandler said he’s seen crime going down in the city despite its growth. Per the U.S. Census estimates for 2024, about 44,000 residents live in the Wilson County town. That population is double to U.S. Census numbers recorded in 2010.
“We’ve seen that crime has actually been falling,” Chandler said during an interview on the city’s YouTube channel. “That is because we have been very strategic and proactive with the work of our officers. That is supplemented with the tools that we have — license plate readers, cameras at intersections, and our future drones as a first responder program.”
Chandler said the drones will go out for emergency calls for service, not random patrols of the city. That drone will automatically launch, respond, hover over that incident, and begin to send real-time video back to responders.
During the test of the drones, Chandler said it helped during an active burglary call.
“The drone was there within 30 seconds — watching the suspect vehicle, watching the suspect walk around the home before officers ever arrived,” Chandler said. He said the call was a misunderstanding in the end with a pest control worker, but served as an example of how quickly drones could allow first responders to handle actual emergencies.
Drones haven’t had such an easy liftoff in Nashville. The Metro pilot drone program, which mirrors its next-door neighbor, has received pushback for not going before Metro Council for approval. It’s expected only to run for 45 days, and it’s not clear what the future is for the program.
As for Mt. Juliet, the drone fleet should be up and flying by September.
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