BRINC to supply LEMUR 2 drones in $700K Schenectady police force deal

Seattle-based UAV security and emergency situational awareness specialist BRINC has recruited another big US client to its LEMUR 2 drone offer, with the New York city of Schenectady voting Tuesday to approve a nearly $700,000 contract with the startup to introduce the craft as police department asset.

The decision by the Schenectady city council marks the second time a large municipality in New York has signed on with BRINC to equip its police department. Last August, New York City agreed to buy 10 LEMUR 2 drones worth nearly $87,750 for law enforcement use – considerably expanding the force’s previous fleet of 19, largely DJI UAVs.

That followed the March unveiling of BRINC’s second-generation LEMUR 2 drone, which like its predecessor was developed specifically for use by police and security forces in the kinds of urgent, often highly dangerous situations they respond to. Just last month the company said it had begun making the first deliveries of those new craft to law enforcement, fire, emergency response, and other customers.

Under the terms detailed in the city council’s agenda before its vote, Schenectady has agreed to a six-year contract covering at least three LEMUR 2 drones; related equipment like docks, software, training; “(n)o questions asked, unlimited repair and replacement warranty with hardware & software upgrades included;” and several tactical BRINC BALL assets. The police department is expected to be ready to deploy the craft in 2025.

The police drone proposal cleared by Schenectady officials Tuesday is worth a nominal value listed as $1,332,000, with BRINC according a 52% “early adopter discount” lowering total cost to $694,994.  

First unveiled last March, the LEMUR 2 was created by building on the groundbreaking concepts that made BRINC’s first generation drone a unique addition to police and other emergency services. 

Beyond improving that initial craft’s innovative features like glass-breaking capabilities, BRINC loaded the LEMUR 2 with tech that includes a tracking camera, two IR spotlights, a white light spotlight, a 4K camera, FLIR thermal imager, and microphone-loudspeaker tandem. That ensemble enables visual, nighttime, and thermal imaging, as well as two-way communication between public service operators and anyone in the craft’s proximity. 

The LEMUR 2 is also equipped with LiDAR capacities that permit real-time generation of surrounding area floor plans, which are made instantly available to police and public response operators linked to the BRINC LiveOps system. That tech is also responsible for powering the drone’s autonomy engine.

The UAV features a 360-degree standby hover mode that relies neither on light nor GPS support, and an obstacle awareness system that dynamically adjusts speed around objects, yet still leaves LEMUR 2 operators with complete control for tactical maneuvers. 

Schenectady Police Department detective Sergeant Bradley Carlton told CBS TV affiliate WRGB the drones will be used in broadening law enforcement operations, before being extended to other kinds of emergency response deployment.

“The first year, we’re going to have tactical drones… and those will be used in tactical situations like a barricaded subject call,” said Carlton. “Our special operations squad can use them to go indoors. They can break glass (and) they have two-way cellular communication, so we can speak with someone or we can carry a cellphone into a building if we needed to… (Later) there would be different drones that would have the capability to actually go and fly as first responders to a call autonomously from a location that we will designate in the city.”