Drone-as-first-responder programs, pursuit footage, evidence policy, and the departments putting UAS on patrol.
The Dallas Police Department officially launched its Drone as First Responder program on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, deploying eight remotely piloted Skydio aircraft from Dallas Fire-Rescue stations across the city. Each drone covers a two-mile radius from its base, with operators working from the department’s Fusion/Real Time Crime Center. The first operational deployment landed the…
A police drone operator with Nottinghamshire Police located a stolen telehandler hidden under trees near the A46 on May 20, 2026, using a DJI Matrice 300 RTK, five days after the bright-yellow machine had been reported missing from Hawton near Newark on Friday, May 15. Photos from the scene confirm the airframe. The recovered telehandler…
Vanderbilt University Public Safety has launched a drone first-responder program for its Nashville campus, with installation and personnel training completed in April 2026 and initial operations conducted during Commencement week. The fleet is built on Skydio X10 platforms, equipped with high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging, and a parachute recovery system. According to the university, a drone
Welcome to your weekly UAS News Update. I have three stories for you this week: Autel is fighting back against the FCC’s Covered List, the Michigan House passed two drone procurement bills while stalling on airspace restrictions, and a drones-for-good story where a thermal drone saved a life in freezing temperatures. Let’s get to it.…
DJI says Ontario's Chinese drone ban is a country-of-origin decision without evidence, citing seven years of audits and warning of public safety costs.
The Corman Park Police Service in Saskatchewan has deployed its DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drone 37 times since receiving it in April 2025, and one of those deployments involved finding an intoxicated man who had crawled into a dumpster on Highway 41 in -20°C (-4°F) temperatures. The thermal camera on the aircraft picked him up.…
Russ from 51 Drones breaks down where local drone bans stop and FAA airspace authority begins, with real examples from NYC, Lakewood, and Lakeville.
The City of Bloomington, Minnesota, will spend the next two weeks running a Drone as First Responder pilot using Skydio X10 aircraft and the Skydio Dock, the city announced on May 15. The testing period begins the week of May 18 and is intended to give city staff a working view of what DFR technology…
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