The idea of the flying police patrol grew out of where the department works. "We're at a STEM university, surrounded by faculty and students who are studying and developing the technologies of the future," Police Chief Aaron Murray tells me. The university launched an aerospace engineering degree this fall, and students and faculty plan to use Astro's flight data for research and senior design projects.

The university unveiled the aircraft late last month. Its name, Astro, comes from the family dog in The Jetsons, the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon about a space-age family who commute by flying car. Under the police outfit sits a standard Jetson ONE, essentially a giant multi-rotor drone with a seat. The eVTOL rocks eight electric motors to keep the pilot aloft, a joystick for the steering and a ballistic parachute in case something goes wrong. Jetson quotes a top speed of 63 mph (102 km/h) and about 20 minutes of flight per charge.

So what will a flying cop actually do? Murray is clear that Astro won't replace the department's patrol cars or drones, but will be one more tool for responding to certain situations.

He lists quickly assessing an emergency, reaching places that are hard to get to by car and delivering critical supplies, plus helping other agencies through mutual aid. "We're not planning to fly it around campus every day just for the sake of flying it," he adds. "We want to be thoughtful about when and how we use it."

Pilots are in short supply, though, and for now, the department's entire air wing is its chief. Jetson's own announcement spoke of trained officers in the plural, but Murray says he's the only one who has completed the training the company requires. "The plan is to train additional officers so we can build that capability within our team," he says.