Two minutes. That is how long it takes for a Bensalem Police drone to reach the scene of a reported retail theft.

By the time officers arrive, they already know where the suspect is.

The Bensalem Police Department is now deploying drones as a frontline tool in the fight against retail theft, according to Walter Perez at 6abc News.

The program operates through the Bensalem Secure Task Force, a partnership between police, local officials, and the district attorney’s office, and it is producing results that stand out against national benchmarks.

The numbers tell part of the story. Retail theft cases in Bensalem nearly doubled over five years, climbing from 484 in 2019 to nearly 900 last year.

The department’s response was to move faster than the crime. Drones launched within minutes of a reported theft give officers real-time aerial visibility before they reach the scene, compressing the window suspects have to disappear.

That window is now closing. In one case highlighted by 6abc, a drone tracked a bicycle theft suspect and relayed his location to officers, leading to an arrest less than a mile from the store.

Sgt. Glenn Vandergrift was direct about what the technology meant for that outcome. “This guy would absolutely have gotten away with this particular retail theft if the drone wasn’t involved,” he said.

The department now reports a 62 percent clearance rate for retail theft cases, significantly above the national average.

Vandergrift says the goal extends beyond arrests. “It doesn’t matter if it’s $20 or $2,000, we’re coming at you just as hard now,” he said, signaling that consistency of enforcement is as deliberate as the technology behind it.

For a closer look at the Bensalem Police Department’s drone program in action, including the bicycle theft case and more from Sgt. Vandergrift, watch the full segment at 6abc News.

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