News, deep dives, and analysis — every Drone as First Responder story, newest first.
Colorado Springs police put a drone over a knife fight before a single patrol car arrived, and this week they released the video to prove it. On June 21, a 911 call reported two men fighting at the A1 Mobile Home Park near Cimarron and I-25, with a possible gun in the mix. The department’s…
Minnesota just published something no other state hands its residents: an itemized receipt for every police drone program inside its borders. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s 2025 Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles report counts 9,080 warrantless flights across 135 agencies, up 38% in a year, and the Rochester Police Department leads them all. Rochester flew…
Chief Jon Buckholtz announced the rollout at a press conference, confirming that the Conroe City Council authorized the purchase of two Skydio X10 drones and two docking stations in December 2025 using asset forfeiture funds. "We purchased this with money that was seized from criminals, in order to fight criminals," Buckholtz said.
On June 8, 2026, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, and a Navy sea drone picked up the two surviving crew members within two hours. It was described afterward as an operational first. It was not an accident. “You can rehearse medevac scenarios during exercises,” a U.S. military official…
Hayward has approved an expanded Drone as First Responder program for 911 calls, putting eight new drones into a Bay Area policing model that promises faster scene awareness while raising familiar questions about privacy, protests, and how far “reactive” drone use can stretch before it starts looking proactive. Hayward Moves Drones Ahead Of Officers Hayward’s…
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is about to get its own fleet of 911 response drones. The county is finalizing a deal with Motorola Solutions to run a Drone as First Responder program built on BRINC hardware, the same setup the Porterville City Council already approved for its police department. The Tulare County Board of…
Boynton Beach is getting a police drone first responder program, but not without a fight over the bill. On June 16 the city commission approved an Axon drone package in a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Aimee Kelley the lone no after she questioned the timing of the purchase during early budget talks. The drones will…
Newport News, Virginia is about to start sending drones to 911 calls before officers or firefighters arrive, with some aircraft reaching a scene in under 90 seconds. The city has eight drones staged at four launch sites, ready to lift off after high-priority calls like a homicide, a shooting, a missing person, or a medical…
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