RESTON, Va. — The Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Center for Innovation (CFI) has released its fourth Strategic Scan, Drone as First Responder (DFR) Programs.
The report details the number of accredited agencies that currently operate or collaborate on a DFR program, the most common response types for drone deployment, and how those programs are piloted. The report also describes the most common response modifications based on drone footage, such as adding, reducing or repositioning resources, as well as upgrading or downgrading alarm levels.
According to CPSE, the CFI team is now working with its Industry Advisory Council members to develop an implementation guide for effective and ethical DFR programs. Additionally, the team selected seven geographically diverse departments to share information about the operationalization of their agencies’ DFR programs.
“Participating in the Drone as First Responder Task Force has been a valuable opportunity for our department, not just to advance our own capabilities, but to learn alongside our peer agencies across the country,” said CPSE Board President Derek Bergsten, CFO, CEMSO, CTO, PIO, and fire chief of the Poudre Fire Authority in Colorado. “Hearing how other departments approached the same challenges we faced, from airspace coordination to real-time video integration with dispatch, gave us insights we couldn’t have developed in isolation. This kind of shared learning is what makes public safety innovation move faster and smarter. We’re grateful to have been part of a cohort that was so willing to share what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently. That candor made all of us better prepared to bring this technology safely into our communities.”
Strategic Scans are part of the CPSE Center for Innovation’s Actionable Research program. For this report, CFI surveyed fire chiefs of departments accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.
Download the CPSE CFI Strategic Scan on Drone as First Responder Programs.
