The Montgomery County Police Department is expanding the use of “drones as first responders” to Bethesda, Maryland, at a time when crime there is down.

During a town hall meeting at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Montgomery County police 2nd District Cmdr. Amy Daum told the audience, “There’s a perception that crime is very, very high” in downtown Bethesda.

But Daum continued, “I’m here to tell you that when we compare the last quarter of 2024 to the last quarter of crime in 2023 — so a same-time, same-time comparison — crime across all matrices is down about 18% in Bethesda. That’s incredible.”

Yet, the department is moving ahead with the deployment of a third drone unit designed to help officers respond to 911 calls.

“We have a staffing shortage, it’s no secret,” said Capt. Jason Cokinos, who led the operations of the Drone as First Responder program. “We have seen increased response times. We’ve seen calls holding. And so we need to be innovative, we need to leverage technology.”

At previous meetings when introducing the drone program in downtown Silver Spring and Wheaton, police faced skepticism over how the units would be deployed. At the meeting Wednesday night in Bethesda, there were some suggestions about how it could be done, including tracking groups of drivers who gather and then speed along the Intercounty Connector.

Cokinos said there are limitations to the use of the drones. In the case of the ICC, Cokinos said the Maryland Department of Transportation has jurisdiction.

Aside from the jurisdictional question, Cokinos said drones are “limited by battery life and speed.” In Prince George’s County, for example, he said helicopters can be used to track cases of reckless driving.

“That’s a resource that we lack in Montgomery County,” Cokinos said, adding that drones are “rapidly evolving,” and there are some drones that can reach speeds of 100 mph.

Once deployed in Bethesda, Cokinos said the range of the drone would be limited to a 1.2-nautical-mile radius around downtown. That’s because the airspace is restricted, and police are required to keep a visual line of sight on the drone at all times, Cokinos said.

Cokinos said the drone program has been especially useful in particular crimes, including “cars being actively broken into, people that are actively fighting, people that are actively stealing from our businesses,” he said.

The placement of the drone unit for Bethesda is still being worked out, police said.