Building Safer, Smarter Cities: The Rise of Next-Gen Drone and Drone as First Responder (DFR) Solutions
Building Safer, Smarter Cities: The Rise of Next-Gen Drone and Drone as First Responder (DFR) Solutions
Axon expands alliance with Skydio, the leading U.S. drone manufacturer, to provide a more comprehensive, scalable drone offering for public safety. Read on to learn more about how this partnership will enable greater use of Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs in public safety and beyond.
On a tranquil evening just beyond the banks of the Oklahoma River, a disturbance call mobilized the Oklahoma City Police Department. What began as a routine ground patrol response quickly escalated into an officer-involved shooting. An officer approached the suspect on foot to gather more information. During the interaction, as the officer attempted to pat down the individual, the suspect reached into his pocket, fired a weapon, and wounded the officer before vanishing into the neighborhood. The police quickly deployed two drones to establish an aerial perimeter within minutes. The suspect was soon located in a backyard, though it was unclear if he was still armed. Maintaining a safe distance, officers used the drones to assess the situation and make informed decisions. The aerial footage revealed the suspect was unarmed and surrendering, allowing officers to safely apprehend him and swiftly provide medical care, ensuring the safety of everyone involved.
The future of first response
The future of first response
Drones are powerful tools for law enforcement, enhancing situational awareness, optimizing resources, speeding up response times, and de-escalating situations without risking lives. Drones represent more than a technological upgrade for public safety — they mark the dawn of a new era in creating safer, more connected cities.
To support agencies in developing effective drone programs, Axon believes in the power of collaboration. Our latest offering, in partnership with Skydio, provides public safety with an integrated suite of products from partners across the Axon Ecosystem, allowing agencies to customize and scale drone solutions to fit their specific needs.
The critical components of a successful drone program are class-leading autonomy, integrated evidence management, real-time operations integration and sensor-based airspace awareness and deconfliction. Drone programs have had incredible impact in search and rescue, accident reconstruction, emergencies, natural disasters, and large event overwatch. Despite these advances, we are just beginning to unlock their full potential in public safety.
Imagine if drones weren’t limited to incidents in which a trained officer has a drone with them on patrol — what if they became THE first response option?
A path to Drone as First Responder (DFR)
Remotely dispatched drones can arrive at a scene often in under 90 seconds — in most cases, much faster than human first responders, however, most drones today require on-scene operation by a pilot.
A rapidly growing number of agencies are deploying Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs. DFR provides swift situational awareness and optimizes resource allocation, resulting in quicker, safer responses, while reducing risks for officers and the communities they serve.
The Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland is seeing early wins with its DFR program. In the first months of the program, they achieved an average response time of just 64 seconds. In one incident, a remotely operated drone was dispatched to investigate a report of a man with a gun. The drone quickly revealed that he was holding a cell phone, preventing unnecessary police contact and potential escalation. This instance highlights the real-world potential of DFR in public safety and its ability to reduce risk for both officers and civilians.
This is innovation in policing. This has been very fruitful … we’ve been able to de-escalate lots of situations. I think this is a win for us.
A next-gen tech-stack for public safety
As DFR advances, so does the technology. The Skydio X10 drone follows this trend. Equipped with advanced AI, it can fly at speeds up to 45 mph and can fly for up to 40 minutes uninterrupted. Its sophisticated sensors can read a license plate from a distance of 800 feet, and, using advanced thermal imaging, detect a person on a roof in complete darkness.
But drone hardware alone isn't enough. The real power lies in smart, adaptable software from Axon and Skydio that enhances efficiency and accessibility. Skydio’s cutting-edge hardware is also accompanied by onboard artificial intelligence and autonomy that brings key capabilities and scale to any drone program. This technology enables the Skydio X10 to be remotely flown and operated over the internet to enable DFR. It can additionally fly at night or in total darkness without concerns of hitting obstacles, offers autonomous 3D scans for detailed scene reconstruction, and visual based navigation allows for indoor flights where GPS is not available.
Axon Air powered by DroneSense, lays the foundation for any public safety drone program by offering comprehensive drone program management (including for mixed fleets), automated flight logging and reporting, as well as hardware and pilot activity tracking, promoting accountability and transparency within drone program operations. Finally, Axon’s technology provides robust live streaming for real-time operations and evidence management, securely storing unlimited drone footage through Axon Evidence and facilitating its journey, securely from capture to courtroom.
“The partnership between Axon and other technology groups, like Skydio...the ability for them to listen to what our needs are and bring those two disparate systems together with the end goal of making the agency successful has been absolutely amazing for us,” shared Sergeant Loperfido of the Miami Beach Police Department’s Technical Operations Unit. Miami Beach Police have been utilizing the Skydio X10 alongside Axon software solutions for the past six months now and experienced remarkable results. “We deal with over 48 events a year where our community can swell from our 93,000 to several hundred thousands over a weekend. Having our drones out there, being able to act as a force multiplier for our officers to augment what we’re already doing at the patrol level and to increase and provide better actionable intelligence for our officers is a phenomenal tool for us.”
The value of partnership
The value of partnership
Connecting in real-time
Effective real-time operations are essential for any public safety agency. Fusus by Axon serves as a unified command center, aggregating real-time live streams from drones with other data sources, including CAD, gunshot detection, officer locations and other camera assets into the platform. This centralized view, provided through a single pane of glass, significantly enhances situational awareness, command and control, response effectiveness, resource optimization, and inter-agency collaboration for law enforcement and public safety agencies.
In public safety, saving seconds, can save lives.
"In public safety, saving seconds can save lives," explained Jeff Kunins, Axon's Chief Product Officer, sharing their philosophy on real-time operations. This same principle applies to the value of advancing DFR technology. "Significantly enhanced situational awareness, combined with a centralized, real-time view, can change the game for first responders, as it ensures the fastest and most effective emergency responses," Kunins added.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department in Georgia uses this technology alongside its drone and K-9 programs. K-9 search missions, especially when locating dangerous suspects, are some of the highest risk operations. Previously, K-9 officers operated alone, radioing progress back to command, which posed significant concerns. Now, drones and real-time operations allow technology to handle coordination. real-time drone live streaming and GPS trackers update dispatch on the K-9 unit's location and actions, enabling the command center to see all activities on a single screen and manage units effectively without interfering with the K-9 team.
How drones help K-9 in real-time
How drones help K-9 in real-time
Fusus by Axon provides unique Real-time Crime Center technology that serves as the operational hub, offering invaluable real-time information that enables remote drone operations to be integrated alongside other valuable data streams, providing a more comprehensive operating picture These centers monitor ongoing situations, coordinate resources, and make informed decisions swiftly, enhancing public safety and operational efficiency. This level of operational intelligence is crucial for agencies.
Scaling DFR as the primary response strategy
The integration of cutting-edge hardware, intelligent software and strategic real-time operational tools provides unparalleled situational awareness, enabling agencies to protect more lives across diverse settings at a fraction of the cost than crewed aviation programs. DFR is poised to be the cornerstone of the future of policing as it serves as a force multiplier for agencies.
Some agencies report their DFR drones can clear up to 25% of calls without needing officer response. This ensures the right resources are deployed efficiently, focusing already limited resources on high-priority calls. DFR has also shown an advanced level of perspective that provides viewers with intel, allowing them to de-escalate more effectively, with reported reductions of up to 50% in use-of-force incidents.
However, current FAA regulations limit the scalability of DFR, restricting operations to clear daytime conditions and direct line of sight from rooftops.
The reality is that emergencies and calls for service don’t care if its day or night, clear or cloudy. To address this, innovative solutions like DedroneBeyond extend operational range Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), empowering agencies with continuous airspace situational awareness day or night.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office in Michigan has successfully piloted DFR using Axon Air and DedroneBeyond technology and is currently seeking a waiver from the FAA to enable BVLOS operations without a human visual observer by leveraging Dedrone technology. They are achieving remarkable response times of under three minutes, with drones addressing 65% of calls before ground units are needed.
Embracing innovation is at the core of our mission to enhance public safety. Our partnership with Dedrone and Axon Air on the evaluation of the DedroneBeyond solution represents a crucial step toward strengthening our DFR program,” said Michael J. Bouchard, Sheriff, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan
Embracing innovation is at the core of our mission to enhance public safety. Our partnership with Dedrone and Axon Air on the evaluation of the DedroneBeyond solution represents a crucial step toward strengthening our DFR program. This collaboration opens the door to exploring BVLOS operations, offering the potential to transform the way we respond to emergencies and keep our community safe.
The most effective drone programs, specifically for DFR, require a comprehensive suite of integrated hardware, software, and services. This is what makes the partnership between Axon, Skydio, and other industry leaders so valuable to public safety. Unlike other offerings, this collaboration provides a range of customizable solutions, including low-altitude flights with cutting-edge obstacle avoidance, seamless connectivity to real-time crime centers, live streaming for enhanced situational awareness, and improved airspace awareness for safe BVLOS operations. It also provides crucial regulatory support for obtaining waivers, making it a truly unique and valuable offering in the drone industry.
As technology evolves rapidly, the potential applications of drones in public safety expand exponentially, sharpening our mission to protect more lives in more places. Axon's new offering, in collaboration with Skydio, Dedrone and DroneSense, provides agencies with the flexibility to implement the right drone program for their needs. This comprehensive approach allows agencies to scale effectively, ushering in a new era of public safety for their agencies.
We are ready to help your agency elevate real-time response with a scalable drone program. Reach out to our team today to learn how to transform your public safety operations and be sure to join us for a webinar on August 9 with Axon and Skydio leadership to hear more about this offering.
Next-Gen Drone Solutions for Safer, Smarter Cities
Join the live webinar. August 9 | 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET
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Drone programs have had incredible impact in search and rescue, accident reconstruction, emergencies, natural disasters, and large event overwatch. Despite these advances, we are just beginning to unlock their full potential in public safety.
A rapidly growing number of agencies are deploying Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs. DFR provides swift situational awareness and optimizes resource allocation, resulting in quicker, safer responses, while reducing risks for officers and the communities they serve. 
As technology evolves rapidly, the potential applications of drones in public safety expand exponentially, sharpening our mission to protect more lives in more places. Axon's new offering, in collaboration with Skydio, Dedrone and DroneSense, provides agencies with the flexibility to implement the right drone program for their needs. This comprehensive approach allows agencies to scale effectively, ushering in a new era of public safety for their agencies. :format(webp))