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Providing situational awareness before officers arrive on-scene.
Upon arriving on scene, the remote pilot located at the police station fully operates the drone and camera, providing a live video feed and valuable situational awareness of the incident to key stakeholders.
Instead of launching a drone after an officer is already on scene, drones are deployed from the police station as soon as a call for service comes in.
The information DFR relays helps drive the best response to an incident - often before units even arrive on scene.
Provide real time information to responding officers to allow for better decision making.
Improve incident response times through better call prioritization.
Assess situations from a distance, identify potential threats, and make informed decisions.
Assist with de-escalation of incidents to enhance safety for both officers and the community.
A force multiplier to public safety with increased actionable intelligence.
Document crimes in progress to aid in court proceedings.
Compared to traditional air support like helicopters, DFR programs are a fraction of traditional airport costs and even the cost of hiring additional officers.
DFR programs act as a deterrent to criminal activity due to faster response times and capturing crimes in progress.
Drones can capture crimes in progress, which can speed up court proceedings.
By providing an initial assessment of a scene, drones can help allocate and optimize resources more effectively, especially as more agencies become short staffed.
Drones provide real-time video of the scene, giving officers a comprehensive view of the situation before they arrive. This helps in making informed decisions and planning appropriate actions.
By assessing potentially dangerous situations from the air, drones can help identify threats and hazards, reducing the risk to officers.
Most emergency calls for service can benefit from having eyes on scene before officers arrive. Below are some different scenarios and use-cases.
A call comes in about a vehicle accident, so a drone is deployed to the location of the accident. As the drone arrives, it sees that the vehicle is on fire and there might be people inside. Dispatch increases the priority of the call and calls additional units to respond.
A panic button alarm is triggered at a bank. A drone is dispatched to the bank address. As the drone arrives on scene, it spots masked individuals getting into a vehicle and fleeing the scene. Dispatch alerts responding offers of the make, model, color, and direction the vehicle is heading.
A kitchen house fire breaks out in a residential neighborhood. A drone is dispatched to the scene. The drone sees that the fire is spreading quickly to neighboring houses. Dispatch calls additional firefighting units to the scene.
Reports of graffiti on the side of a freeway overpass come in. A drone is dispatched and records the person graffitiing. When officers arrive, they make the arrest and have documentation of the crime in progress.
A gas station requests a call for service for someone yelling loudly, throwing objects, and approaching people aggressively in the parking lot. A drone is dispatched to the scene. The drone is used to search the area, but no person matching the description is seen. The call is cleared by the drone and responding officers can go to a different emergency.
On a semi-remote mountain, a hiker suffered a heart attack far away from the start of the trail. Within minutes, a drone arrived and delivered a defibrillator. Bystanders quickly followed the simple voice instructions and administered the shocks necessary to restart the hiker's heart, providing life-saving support before the emergency team could even get to his location on the trail.
The drone part of a DFR program is just one piece of the larger decision: which company will be the solution provider? Besides Skydio and Brinc (who make their own drones and are solution providers), other solution providers use DJI drones and make their own DFR software for a complete solution.
The top drone manufacturers for DFR programs include DJI and Skydio; however, the drone hardware is only one aspect of a complete DFR program. The largest drone manufacturer (DJI) does not make a DFR software which is why other American-based companies such as DroneSense/Axon, Flock Safety, Motorola Cape, and Paladin integrate their software with DJI hardware.
Skydio and Brinc are unique in this space because they provide and manufacture the drone hardware, drone charging stations, and DFR software.
Another important aspect about a DFR program is the need to staff the location (typically a rooftop) from where drones will be deployed from because current regulation still requires a visual observer. A popular DFR staffing company is Flying Lion.
The list continues to expand but here is a list of the most prominent DFR programs in the US:
Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office
Asheville Police Department
Beverly Hills Police Department
Brookhaven Police Department
Burbank Police Department
Campbell Police Department
City of Splendora
Chula Vista Police Department
Clovis Police Department
Commerce City Police Department
Daytona Beach Police Department
Denver Police Department
Elk Grove Police Department
Elizabeth Police Department
Flagler County Sheriff's Office
Fort Wayne Police Department
Fremont Police Department
Gresham Police Department
Hawthorne Police Department
Hemet Police Department
Irvine Police Department
Las Vegas Metro Police Department
Memorial Villages Police Department
Montgomery County Police Department
New York City Police Department
Oklahoma City Police Department
Oswego Police Department
Pearland Police Department
Redondo Beach Police Department
Santa Monica Police Department
San Antonio Police Department
West Palm Beach Police Department
Yonkers Police Department
Schenectady Police Department
Queen Creek Police Department
Greenwood Village Police Department
Hawthorne Police Department
Removing the need for human visual observers (VOs)
DFR operations still require having human VOs on the roof watching the airspace as the drone is flying to the scene. The current trend is trying to get a replacement for VOs during operations. This includes deploying visual camera and radar systems to fully scan the airspace during operations. Taking away visual observers would further increase the use of DFR operations because operations could now happen at night and agencies would not have to factor in additional staffing for observers on the roof.
Axon and Skydio
Axon and Skydio have partnered to enhance Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs by integrating Skydio’s autonomous drones with Axon’s public safety platform. This collaboration provides law enforcement with real-time aerial insights, improving response times, officer safety, and situational awareness. The integration allows seamless management of drone footage within Axon’s evidence ecosystem, alongside body-worn and in-car video, ensuring secure storage and streamlined workflows. By enabling remote scene assessment and automated evidence handling, the partnership helps agencies adopt drones efficiently while enhancing public safety and transparency.
Flock Safety and Aerodome
Flock Safety has expanded its public safety solutions by acquiring Aerodome and Uniform Sierra Aerospace, enhancing its Drone as First Responder (DFR) capabilities. Aerodome’s advanced drone operations software integrates with Flock’s camera and gunshot detection platform, enabling faster situational awareness for law enforcement. The acquisition of Uniform Sierra Aerospace adds NDAA-compliant, American-made drones to Flock’s offerings, ensuring secure and federally compliant solutions. These strategic moves position Flock as a comprehensive provider of DFR technology.
Axon is partnered with Skydio, integrating its autonomous drones with Axon’s real-time operations and evidence management tools. Through Axon Air, drones can be deployed based on officer locations, providing immediate situational awareness via live streaming to command centers and officers in the field. Axon Evidence ensures secure, courtroom-ready footage with proper chain of custody, while detailed flight logs and community transparency reports help maintain accountability. Since many agencies already use Axon’s platform, integrating Skydio drones into their operations is seamless, reducing friction and accelerating the adoption of DFR programs.
Yes, Aerodome was acquired by Flock Safety in October 2024. Flock Safety, known for its license plate recognition cameras and real-time crime center solutions, announced the acquisition as part of its expansion into drone-based solutions for law enforcement. Aerodome’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) technology will now be integrated into Flock Safety’s platform, which aims to enhance public safety through rapid response technologies. This integration will allow law enforcement agencies to deploy drones quickly during critical incidents, improving real-time situational awareness and response times.
BRINC Drones is partnered with Echodyne to pave the way toward Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs. While current FAA regulations require visual observers, this partnership aims to enable a path toward BVLOS operations by integrating Echodyne's advanced radar technology. The radar provides enhanced airspace awareness, allowing drones to operate more safely and reliably without visual observers. This collaboration is designed to reduce barriers for public safety agencies and move toward FAA compliance, ultimately making DFR programs more efficient and scalable.