🚁 Frisco’s getting flying robots (and a winter storm is coming)

Frisco Police are rolling out six autonomous drones as first responders starting in May, and it’s one of the more futuristic (and practical) upgrades we’ve seen.

The basics:

The cost: ~$467,000 total
→ Mostly paid by a state grant
→ Frisco chips in ~$40k

For context, a helicopter would run $7-10 million.

Prosper (the first city in Texas to do this) saw a 71% drop in response times, with drones arriving first on 37% of calls.

Privacy note:
No random patrols, no constant surveillance. Drones are only deployed on actual calls and only record when relevant.

As someone who regularly drives around Frisco with two three kids in the backseat, faster emergency response feels like a net win.

(Yes, it’s milk-and-bread season again)

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Friday afternoon through late Saturday night.

What we’re looking at:

Smart prep checklist:

Roads, especially bridges, could get slick, and ice may cause localized power outages. If you don’t need to drive, don’t.

Emily has already filled the bathtub and stocked enough snacks to survive a minor apocalypse. I won’t argue with her track record.

Henry Hill, Frisco’s Deputy City Manager since 2003, attended his final city council meeting Tuesday night.

When he joined, Frisco had ~50,000 residents. Today, it’s over 220,000.

Mayor Jeff Cheney called him “quiet but brilliant.”
City Manager Wes Pierson said nearly everything meaningful built in Frisco over the past two decades has Hill’s fingerprints on it.

Career highlights:

Why this matters:
The Frisco our kids grow up in doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because of leaders who work behind the scenes and never ask for credit.

Enjoy retirement, Henry. Well earned.