Brownsville Police Department takes to the skies with new drone program
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The Brownsville Police Department is now using drones to help keep the city safe.
The department started testing the drones in December 2025 and officially revealed the program to the public on Monday. The drones were paid for through a $12.5 million package for new technology at the department.
Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said officers can automatically program the drones to fly to certain spots, or a pilot can manually fly them anywhere.
The drones will patrol specific areas of the city based on call volume and calls for service. Officers will launch the drones depending on the type of call.
"We're gonna go to anything major, anything that's in progress," Investigator Mario Avendaño said. "We want to make sure that we get there and we start feeding the information to the officers."
Avendaño leads the drone program. He said one focus area is Pablo Kisel Boulevard, also known as the Midtown Entertainment District.
Avendaño said having the drones will help officers get eyes on a scene faster.
"The officers do see the benefit because by the time they get to a call we may already know where the suspect is at," Avendaño said.
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