{"id":7118,"date":"2024-02-16T17:41:13","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T17:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/?p=7118"},"modified":"2024-02-16T17:41:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T17:41:13","slug":"police-drone-video-catches-beverly-hills-ca-thief-in-the-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/police-drone-video-catches-beverly-hills-ca-thief-in-the-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Drone Video Catches Beverly Hills, CA Thief in the Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AqeExhdzfkU?si=8xb7yxXlurjvKjIT\" width=\"740\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nLaw enforcement drones are sweeping across America, helping local police catch fleeing criminal suspects and rescuing lost and missing persons.\u00a0 Occasionally, their high-powered video cameras even catch a perpetrator red-handed.<\/p>\n<p>It happened last week in Beverly Hills, California, when a BHPD police drone, responding to a house alarm, caught a burglar climbing from the high second floor window of an expensive private home.\u00a0 As the drone circled overhead, the man tried to escape on a tall ladder he\u2019d propped against the back of the house.\u00a0 He teetered for a few seconds, then proceeded to fall the two flights \u2013\u00a0 right into the home\u2019s swimming pool.<\/p>\n<p>It was a humorous moment, captured in full by BHPD drone\u2019s video, which has since circulated on local and international news programs and on YouTube.\u00a0 The man, identified as 36-year-old Robert Durnan, will soon get the 15 minutes of fame he\u2019d surely hoped to avoid.<\/p>\n<p>Beverly Hills was one of the first local jurisdictions to establish a drone first-responder team back in December 2019.\u00a0 Like nearby Redondo Beach, the BHPD took its inspiration from the Chula Vista PD, which first pioneered the use of drones in this role back in 2019.\u00a0 The DFR program, as it\u2019s come to be known, has since spread to more than two dozen police departments nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>But the BHPD\u2019s \u201cReal Time Watch Center\u201d may well be the most sophisticated crime surveillance program currently operating anywhere in the country.\u00a0 In addition to responding to citizen 911 calls, the department\u2019s drones are the focal point for video surveillance the BHPD collects through stationary cameras and license plate readers \u2013 a system known as \u201cMilestone\u201d \u2013 located throughout the city.\u00a0 Once the drone, known as \u201cHawkeye,\u201d receives an electronic \u201chit\u201d from any Milestone source, it\u2019s automatically dispatched to the crime scene ahead of arriving field officers to provide situational intelligence as well as back up support.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to acquiring its drone fleet, the BHPD relied on ground-based surveillance with air support from gas-powered helicopters alone.\u00a0 But choppers are noisy, expensive to pilot and maintain, and burn fuel that contributes to air pollution.\u00a0 Drones are faster, safer and more maneuverable, and with their intelligence capabilities, act as a force multiplier, reducing the number of officers needed to respond to unfolding crime incidents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been on the job for 28 years,\u201d\u00a0 the BHPD\u2019s Lt. Robert Maycott has said of the Hawkeye system.\u00a0 \u201cWe didn\u2019t [used to] have what I call now the 3D incident command space, which allows us to use drones, Milestone, and other technology to enhance the officers\u2019 operational ability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The BHPD began the Hawkeye program in response to an upsurge in \u201csmash and grab\u201c robberies in the city\u2019s posh downtown shopping area, but has since expanded it to other crime-sensitive areas of the city.\u00a0 According to the department, property crime in Beverly Hills fell by 34% between June and September 2022 \u2013 a decline that is especially remarkable given that the summer months typically see a large crime spike.<\/p>\n<p>That decline has allowed the BHPD to overcome any lingering concerns from local residents that their drones might be misused to violate citizen privacy rights.\u00a0 While the department can use drones and other surveillance to scan license plates of vehicles on the road, they operate under strict protocols that restrict their use of collected video footage.<\/p>\n<p>Durnan\u2019s bumbling escapade will likely generate even more popular support for the BHPD\u00a0 drone program.\u00a0 Footage of his failed burglary has already been viewed by more than 75,000 people online, with nearly all applauding the police operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreat job, BHPD!\u201d said one enthusiastic viewer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Law enforcement drones are sweeping across America, helping local police catch fleeing criminal suspects and rescuing lost and missing persons.\u00a0 Occasionally, their high-powered video cameras even catch a perpetrator red-handed. It happened last week in Beverly Hills, California, when a BHPD police drone, responding to a house alarm, caught a burglar climbing from the&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/police-drone-video-catches-beverly-hills-ca-thief-in-the-act\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}