Dallas Police Drone Program Helps Save Man in Distress

The Dallas Police Drone as First Responder Program helped save a man in distress on top of an 11-story parking garage in the 2000 block of Elm St.

The department posted aerial footage from the drone to social media on Tuesday. According to the post, the drone program supports on-the-ground patrol officers by providing that aerial coverage on emergency calls while officers respond.

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On a recent call for service, the drone unit was overhead at an 11-story parking garage where a man called 911 and told the operator he wanted to jump off of the building.

The drone maintained visual contact with the man, relaying important details to the officers arriving, as the man looked distressed and repeatedly walked to the edge of the parking garage. At one point, he even sat on the ledge and looked down.

When officers reached the top of the garage, they quickly and safely took the man into custody.

"With the fast response by the drone pilot, officers arrived at the scene with critical intelligence they would not have received from just the call to 911," the post states.

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You can also text "Connect" to 741741 any time. You will be connected to a trained, caring volunteer at the National Crisis Text Line.