KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
—
Blue Springs has approved a 10-year contract to become Missouri's first "Flock Safe City," introducing drone-as-first-responder technology to enhance public safety operations.
The Blue Springs City Council approved the $4.6 million contract this week, expanding the police department's existing technology arsenal with advanced investigative features, including drones that can respond to emergency calls within two minutes. It is something the police chief has been looking into for over a year, and it aligns with the city's 2025 strategic plan.
"Drone as first responder is where you fly the drone to the crime, and hopefully your response time will be about two minutes," Blue Springs Police Chief Bob Muenz said. "Goal is to get eyes on that scene, whatever it may be before the officers get there. And then we can say, okay, an officer is needed at this intersection or this crime scene, or there is no accident at this intersection. We can put the officer somewhere else."
The Blue Springs Police Department has been utilizing technology in policing for several years. The city currently operates around 50 Flock license plate reader cameras and has access to enhanced search features for crime solving. The department also uses Flock's live 911 calls streaming into officers' vehicles to reduce response times, along with a state-of-the-art mobile command center.
Muenz emphasized that the new technology isn't designed to replace police officers but to better allocate resources. The department plans to add two more positions to its real time crime center to support the expanded operations.
The 10-year contract will be funded through the city's public safety sales tax. Flock's presentation to the city council on Monday stated this bundled contract will be cost-saving for the city, rather than paying for each service separately.
The department expects to have the complete Flock Safe City program operational by June 2026, coinciding with the FIFA World Cup.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
