News, deep dives, and analysis — every Drone as First Responder story, newest first.
Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua and police will host a free public demonstration of the city's new Drone as First Responder program on August 1, with privacy and oversight questions still following its 4-3 approval.
Detroit filed a $2.2 million DOJ grant application for a police drone as first responder program without City Council approval. Six members voted no, the city may withdraw it, and DPD still has no approved drone policy.
Spokane police say four Skydio X10 drones flew about 400 missions in three weeks, including a pursuit where the aircraft tracked suspects overhead after patrol cars backed off.
New York's $75 million LETECH program funds police drones and counter-drone gear, but an ICE clause locks out Rensselaer County, whose photographed fleet of DJI and Autel aircraft faces a federal squeeze of its own.
Skydio's X10, Dock for X10, and R10 join the X10D on the Blue UAS Cleared List, unlocking federal grant eligibility and cementing its DFR lead while rivals stay locked out.
League City Police Department plans to launch a Drone as First Responder program by December after city council approved a Motorola Solutions pilot agreement built around BRINC aircraft, with the first year free and a six-year contract value of up to $1,759,980 if the city keeps the program.
James City County, Virginia will begin dispatching AED-carrying drones to suspected cardiac arrest calls on August 1, starting a five-mile pilot around Fire Station 1 in Toano. The Duke- and VCU-led RESTORe-CARE study is expanding from North Carolina into a second live U.S. county program.
Ruston Police Department says its BRINC drone Patsy helped officers identify and arrest a fraud suspect in the agency’s first drone-assisted arrest, underscoring how Drone as First Responder programs are spreading into smaller U.S. departments.
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