Everett, WA police using drone technology

Name: Everett police using drones to solve crime
Uploaded: 2026-02-26T18:01:34-08:00
Description: Everett police are in the air — in a recent stolen car investigation, officers did not have to risk any lives in a police pursuit to chase down a suspect.

Everett police using drones to solve crime

Everett police are in the air — in a recent stolen car investigation, officers did not have to risk any lives in a police pursuit to chase down a suspect.

EVERETT, Wash. - Police in Everett are taking crime-fighting to new heights by incorporating drones into their resources.

The Everett Police Department is testing out a program this year that utilizes drones to respond to emergency calls.

The department just released video from an incident back in January showing how the technology is being used. In the video, you see a suspected stolen car driving through Everett city streets.

Sergeant Robert Edmonds with the Everett Police Department tells FOX 13 Seattle the Marysville Police Department notified Everett that the stolen car was entering its jurisdiction.

Instead of sending patrol cars to pursue the suspects, Everett used drones to track the car to a house and then send officers in to make an arrest.

"With the drone directly overhead, I was able to follow the driver as he ran down the street through the back alley and into a house," Edmonds said.

Drone as First Responder Program

More than 30 officers have been trained to pilot drones for the program.

The city currently has two different drone locations to launch the devices. One of the sites is in the north part of the city, the other in the south. Edmonds says the drones have top speeds of more than 50 mph and can avoid traffic disruptions, making the drones' response times much quicker than patrol cars.

Drone operators for the department are able to operate the devices from a control room with the police department.

Police say the technology helps reduce the risks that often come with vehicle pursuits.

"We’ve always leaned more on the side of safeguarding the community," Edmonds said. "It’s not worth the risk of chasing a stolen vehicle to have them then crash in the middle of an intersection and hurt a family of four that is in a car."