September 17, 2025 — The Clovis Police Department is pioneering a new era of law enforcement in the Central Valley with the launch of its Real-Time Information Center (RTIC) and an advanced Drone as First Responder (DFR) program. This initiative, which has been in the works for over a year and a half, is designed to enhance officer safety, improve response times, and allow for quicker case resolutions.
Clovis Police Chief Curt Fleming stated that the department’s philosophy is rooted in innovation. “We always want to be on the cutting edge,” Chief Fleming said. He believes this new system “is just setting the standard” for law enforcement in the region and expects “a lot of other agencies… coming on board.”
A Centralized Hub for Public Safety
The new RTIC is the culmination of years of technological build-out. What was once a conference room for youth services has been transformed into a sophisticated command center, featuring a massive video wall and a suite of high-tech equipment. This project, which took about three to four months to build out, was funded through a combination of the city’s general fund and a total of $1.95 million in contracts. A $750,000 contract with an integrator named Wildfire, which partnered with Barco and RGB Spectrum, was used for the video wall and associated computer equipment. The department also signed a five-year, $1.2 million contract with Brinc for the drone program.
The center’s analyst works in conjunction with officers in the field, processing information from various sources to provide real-time intelligence. This allows officers to have a better understanding of a situation before they even arrive on the scene. According to Crime Analysis Supervisor Calli Biaggi, “The information that the officers are getting is coming faster and quicker to them.” This helps them “solve their cases faster because they’re getting it right away versus waiting until information gets back to detectives.”
Eyes on the City
The Clovis PD’s surveillance infrastructure has been growing for nearly 20 years and now includes just over 500 cameras strategically placed throughout the city. These cameras are primarily located at every major intersection and within key public spaces like fire stations and parks. The system is designed to expand as the city grows, with new intersections being built with cameras already integrated into the plan.
A key concern for some residents is the potential for an invasion of privacy. However, officials emphasize that all cameras are only in public spaces and the drone program is reactive, not proactive. “All of our cameras are only in public spaces, so anybody that can be seen in the public, that’s what we can see in the cameras,” Biaggi said. She further clarified that for the drone program, the drones are “only responding to calls. It’s not live surveillance over just hovering. It is only in response to a call for service.”
Advancing Law Enforcement with Drones
Clovis is a national leader in drone-assisted policing. The department was the second in the nation to establish a DFR program back in 2020. After facing initial challenges with the Central Valley’s extreme heat, the department has now fully implemented the program using new, cooled drone pods.
This technology allows the department to deploy air support quickly with a single operator, a significant improvement from the two-person team required in the past. Chief Fleming explained that the system “allows us to get air support and really provide safety for our community and for our officers out there in the field.” He added, “This doesn’t replace a helicopter program,” but for a department of Clovis’ size, it’s a critical new tool.
Officials are confident that this advanced technology will benefit the community. Biaggi noted that the new resources help officers “make better decisions on the calls that they respond to.” Chief Fleming agreed, stating, “I think you should feel extremely safe.” He sees the new center as a way to “now truly utilize all that infrastructure that we’ve built over the last 20 years.”