SCHENECTADY, NY - MAY 22: The Brinc drone in its nest atop the Schenectady Police Department on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Schenectady, NY. (Jim Franco/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
FOX 2 - Taylor police have released a statement regarding a drone crash from its department responding to a July incident.
The backstory:
The crash destroyed the police drone, which suffered a technical problem, first reported by the Metro Detroit News on Friday.
On July 18, the Taylor police drone unit was responding to a parental kidnapping in the area of 7555 Telegraph when a malfunction caused it to crash.
There were no injuries from the drone crash and no damage to public or private property, Taylor police Lt. Jeff Adamisin said in a statement.
The cause is due to a loss in communication between the drone and a signal interruption with the pilot and technical failure to reconnect after 120 seconds.
Officers were dispatched to the last known location, then found the drone which was a total loss, after a resident called reporting finding it.
The drone did not have a parachute on the unit, and all remaining drone units were grounded until the cause could be investigated.
Parachutes have now been installed on the drone units and BRINC replaced all of the existing battery stock.
"BRINC Drones determined that the incident was caused by a rare communication failure between the battery and the drone unit," Adamisin said in the statement.
The Metro Detroit News report featured a video of a drone flying over the area and rapidly descending with a disclaimer that it was not actual footage.
Taylor police released a statement about the incident, adding that MDN's video did not depict the actual incident.
MDN, which broke the report today, revealed the five-year drone program costs $775,000 through records obtained with the Freedom of Information Act.
The department's contract with BRINC covers the costs of repairs, equipment malfunctions, crashes and replacement parts with no additional expense to the city or taxpayers, Adamisin's statement said.
(Update:) MDN released a statement about the video, read below:
Metro Detroit News (MDN) stands by the accuracy of its reporting on the Taylor Police Department drone crash.
The City of Taylor and Taylor Police publicly stated that our reporting misrepresented the incident. The video shared with our story was labeled "not actual footage" and consisted of B-roll filmed using a real drone for news illustration purposes only — a standard journalism practice when actual footage is unavailable or restricted.
The incident itself — including the police report and 911 call — is real. Both were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The crash was not publicly disclosed when it occurred in July 2025 and only became public after our FOIA request was fulfilled, with official video heavily redacted.
City officials have stated they value transparency, yet no public statement or notification was issued at the time of the crash. The department’s first public explanation was released only after our reporting was published.
Following that release, a sitting Taylor City Council member publicly called the story "fake," "AI-generated," and referred to those covering the story as "bums."
Our reporting relied on verified public records.
MDN remains committed to factual, transparent journalism — regardless of criticism or pressure.
Read the full report and statement by Taylor police, below.
The Source: Information for this report is from Taylor police in response to a published news report by MDN.