Skydio X10 Drone Becomes First on Scene in Fairfax County Police Calls

A Skydio X10 drone reached a potentially dangerous 911 call in Fairfax County, Virginia, in just 57 seconds, arriving before any patrol officer and fundamentally changing how police handled the situation.

The call came in near Fair Oaks Mall, where a caller reported a man standing in a median armed with a bow and arrow. Multiple officers were dispatched, but before the first squad car arrived, a Fairfax County Police Department drone was already overhead, feeding live video back to the department’s Real Time Crime Center, as reported by WTOP News.

What the Skydio X10 showed immediately altered the response.

Instead of an armed suspect, operators saw a man experiencing a mental health crisis, holding a stick and gesturing toward passing vehicles. With that real time clarity, supervisors downgraded the call before officers arrived, reducing urgency, tension, and the risk of force.

How Fairfax County’s Drone as First Responder Program Works

Fairfax County Police launched its Drone as First Responder pilot program in the fall, operating Skydio X10 drones out of the Fair Oaks and Franconia districts. The goal is straightforward: put eyes on a scene faster than humans can drive there.

Within the program’s first 100 missions, the Skydio X10 averaged an 83 second response time and was first on scene 71 times. According to Police Chief Kevin Davis, the drones routinely beat patrol officers, firefighters, and medics to outdoor calls for service.

Once launched, control is transferred to a trained operator inside the Real Time Crime Center that flies the drone using an Xbox One controller. Just like the one you have on your living room.

The Skydio X10 flies autonomously using advanced visual navigation and obstacle avoidance, allowing it to maneuver around buildings, trees, and infrastructure without GPS dependency, then hover over the scene while streaming live video as long as needed.

The department operates under FAA waivers that permit beyond visual line of sight flights, a requirement for any true Drone as First Responder program.

De Escalation Is the Real Advantage

Chief Davis emphasized that speed is only part of the equation. The larger benefit is emotional control and informed decision making.

Seeing a scene before officers arrive allows commanders to slow things down. Calls that initially sound like armed confrontations can be reassessed, and officers arrive with context instead of assumptions. That difference is especially critical in mental health related incidents, where misinterpretation can escalate situations unnecessarily.

The Skydio X10 used by Fairfax County is equipped with a parachute recovery system and is roughly the size of a typical professional police drone, not a large aircraft. The drones are deployed to outdoor crime calls, traffic collisions, medical emergencies, and missing person searches.

Montgomery County Police in Maryland are already operating a similar Drone as First Responder model, signaling a growing regional shift toward autonomous first arrival capability.

Chief Davis summarized the impact clearly. More information before arrival leads to safer outcomes for officers and civilians alike.

“That’s going to be the 2026 difference maker.”

DroneXL’s Take

Fairfax County’s deployment of the Skydio X10 shows where Drone as First Responder programs are truly headed. The headline is not autonomy, speed, or AI, but decision quality. When a Skydio X10 arrives in under a minute and rewrites the narrative of a call before officers arrive, it prevents escalation rather than reacting to it. As FAA waivers expand and departments invest in real time crime centers, programs like this are quietly setting the standard for modern policing, where clarity beats adrenaline and information arrives first.

Photo credit: Fairfax County PD