Florida has become the first state in the nation to fund and deploy drones inside school buildings as part of a pilot program designed to stop active shooters before they become deadly. Specialized drones are now installed at high schools in Leon, Volusia and Broward counties as thousands of students return to campus this week.
The pilot program places 40 drones throughout selected buildings at each participating school, with 13 boxes containing three drones each positioned in high-volume locations including auditoriums, cafeterias, gyms and classrooms. At Deltona High School near Orlando, where about 1,800 students are returning, the drones are mounted and being finalized. When an alert is triggered, the encrypted drones deploy within seconds and are piloted remotely from Austin, Texas by championship drone racing pilots.
The drones can track a potential shooter and deploy flashing lights, sirens, pellet bangs and pepper spray. Bill King, a co-founder of Campus Guardian Angel, the Austin-based company that developed the technology, said the goal is to distract shooters from targeting people.
Just over half a million dollars in state funding is paying for the initial deployment at Godby High School in Leon County, Deltona High in Volusia County, and Boyd Anderson High in Broward County. Additional state funding was recently added to bring three more school districts into the program, though those districts have not yet been announced by Florida's Department of Education.
All participating schools are expected to have the drones fully installed by this fall. At Deltona High, Deputy Trevor Autrey said the drones will give him eyes and ears on a threat's location and help him respond faster.
The program has drawn cautious interest from Parkland families. Debbie Hixon, whose husband Chris was among 17 victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, said the technology is hard to fully embrace until it is seen in action. Justin Marston, founder of Campus Guardian Angel, said the concept originated from watching drone technology used in combat in Ukraine and applying it to school shootings like Parkland and Uvalde.