Washington County Tests DFR Drone Program

In Washington County, deputies just gained a new pair of eyes in the sky. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has launched a Drone as First Responder program, and it is already turning routine calls into coordinated aerial operations, as KGW8 NBC reports.

This is not a drone sitting in the trunk of a patrol car.

This is remote launch, remote control, real time intelligence.

Skydio X10 Takes Off From Remote Pods

At the center of the program is the Skydio X10. Instead of waiting for a deputy to arrive on scene, trained pilots sit in a control center and launch drones from strategically placed pods across the county.

One X10 recently lifted off from a sheriff’s facility nearly three miles away from the east precinct. Within minutes, deputies had a live aerial view of the situation.

The controls are surprisingly simple. Deputies pilot the aircraft using Xbox controllers. Under the hood, though, the system is far from simple. The drone can integrate with deputies’ body cameras, track their movement, and effectively shadow them from above.

That bodycam sync is the real headline here.

The drone does not just observe the scene. It follows the responding deputy, providing overwatch and situational awareness before boots even reach the front door.

First Week, First Wins

According to spokesperson David Huey, the program showed results on day one.

In a DUI call, the reporting party lost sight of the suspect and could not provide an exact address. The drone found the vehicle before the deputy arrived. Instead of driving blind into a search, law enforcement had eyes on target from the air.

Over the weekend, a second incident pushed the concept further. While serving a search warrant in Aloha, a suspect ran from the house in an attempt to escape. A DFR drone launched, tracked the movement, and supported deputies until the suspect was taken into custody.

That is the promise of Drone as First Responder. Faster information. Better preparation. Safer approaches.

A Pilot Program With Big Implications

Right now, the sheriff’s office is treating this as a pilot program. Over the next several weeks, they will evaluate performance, cost, and operational impact before deciding whether to expand and secure long term funding.

The big shift is not just about flying drones. It is about changing response philosophy.

Instead of sending officers into unknown situations, agencies can now send a sensor first. The drone watches rooftops, backyards, and escape routes. It feeds live video into a command center. It syncs with body cameras to create a layered view of the scene.

For departments across the U.S., that is the future blueprint.

Drone as First Responder is no longer a concept discussed at conferences. In Washington County, it is airborne, it is operational, and it is already making arrests.

DroneXL’s Take

The most interesting part of this rollout is not the drone itself. It is the ecosystem.

Bodycam integration turns the drone from a flying camera into a tactical partner. When the aircraft can follow a deputy automatically, commanders gain a dynamic, shared view of the operation in real time. That changes decision making speed.

For older Skydio platforms, autonomy was the headline. With the X10 in DFR roles, autonomy becomes infrastructure. Pods, remote pilots, automated tracking, live sync with ground units. This is how DFR scales.

If funding comes through, expect more counties to copy this model. The combination of remote launch, enterprise drones, and bodycam tracking is exactly the kind of layered system public safety agencies are looking for.

And once citizens get used to drones arriving before patrol cars, the expectations for response times may shift permanently.

Photo credit: KGW8