DFR Outcomes Save Time, Money, Resources, Lives

In this webinar, public safety experts explored how Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs are transforming law enforcement operations by reducing response times, enhancing situational awareness, and improving resource allocation.

Real-world examples from agencies like NYPD, Las Vegas Metro PD, and OKCPD showcase how drones arrive first on scene, providing officers with critical, live-streamed aerial views before they step out of their vehicles. Speakers also covered the financial impact of DFR, including cost savings on dispatches and air support, as well as key steps for launching or expanding a program. The session concluded with an engaging live demo, demonstrating DFR technology in action.

Hey. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Angad Singh, and I lead public safety partnerships here at Skydio, America's largest drone manufacturer.

Today, we will be presenting a webinar titled "DFR Outcomes," showing how agencies can save time, money, and resources, and most importantly, lives with the implementation of Drone as First Responder programs.

I just want to say thank you so much for joining us. We have a tremendous number of folks in this webinar, ranging from executive staff from fire and police departments to our fellow brethren who fly drones in the field. Today, I'm cohosting this webinar with a good friend and longtime industry colleague, Bryan King, who's a solutions engineer here at Skydio. And he's doing a great job solution engineering right now because he's on the road.

He's been with three different agencies today, and he's actually helping present this live webinar from his vehicle. So we really appreciate him for joining in. Really appreciate all of you for joining in. Just a general reminder that here in the Restream platform, you have the ability to send questions.

We have staff that will be bringing those questions forward, allowing me to see them so we can address them. If they're relevant to the conversation, we'll tackle them right there. If not, we'll address them at the very end. Please send your questions in.

We want this to be interactive. This is for you—to ask questions as we share stories about implementing Drone as First Responder in the real world.

Just so everyone's aware, we're gonna go through these slides, and then we're gonna launch into a live demo of our DFR command system, which is accompanied, of course, by the AI-powered hardware that is our drones and docks.

So just quickly, my name is Angad Singh. I've been working with drones for about ten years in the industry. I spent the first few years teaching primarily collision and crime scene investigations using drones in the field. I taught about thirty-five hundred police officers how to do that work and worked with a lot of fire agencies as well. From there, I worked on tactical UAVs—drones for SWAT teams—and then I've been here at Skydio for about three years now.

Before we pop into the first slide, Bryan, you wanna give the folks an intro of yourself and why you're here today with us?

Sure thing. Thanks, Angad. Bryan King here, solutions engineer with Skydio.

I've been with Skydio for just about four years now.

Prior to that, I had prior service in the Army. I worked in manufacturing for a while and then entered the drone space, working with a Canadian company called Arium Labs. I moved over to FLIR and a couple of other small companies here and there. So I've definitely been in the trenches with the industry, with Angad, and with others. It's a fun, exciting job, and I look forward to sharing those experiences with you all today.

Awesome. Really appreciate it, Bryan. And just to set the stage, I think law enforcement and public safety as a whole is in a pretty interesting place.

I've heard the word "crisis" independently stated by a lot of the individuals I talk with on a daily basis, and it really comes down to the fact that we have a workforce that is being stretched thin. We know that the vast majority of communities around the United States have a sworn officer count, but most of those positions that have been budgeted for are not filled.

We know that risks to officer safety are rising. We see that around the country with stories we hear every day. We know that there's declining public trust in law enforcement, which, I believe, is a sentiment that is hopefully changing. And then we know that emergency response times are increasing.

We fundamentally believe that drones are a force multiplier for agencies. Drones are a technology force multiplier that addresses all of these core issues that are part of this growing crisis in public safety.

Ten years ago, and Bryan can echo this sentiment, when we would go into agencies and say, "Hey, let's start a drone program," you wouldn't be able to get chiefs to come to the table. You wouldn't be able to get executive command staff to say, "We’re missing the boat if we don’t have these programs." Today, that has changed dramatically.

And, Bryan, you're on the road every week. How has this changed in the last ten years?

Oh, it's changed a lot. I mean, just like you said, seven to ten years ago—and this isn’t to take away from what was being done at the time—but a lot of people saw drones as a toy. They didn’t see them as a tool in the toolbox, as some like to say.

But then the story evolved. Agencies started asking, "How do I get that footage elsewhere? Can I use this at night with thermal? Can I map with this?"

The interest started growing, and this is a testament to a lot of people out there. There are so many names I could list, but the reality is that countless individuals have worked tirelessly to get drones where they are today and to get them into the hands of the people who need them most.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think just the number of chiefs on this webinar today is a testament to how the industry has changed. Over the last ten years, we’ve been showing people that drones are useful. The next decade is about showing people that drones are essential.

If we parallel this to another movement in public safety technology, we see that cameras document outcomes. We have body-worn cameras that have become prolific, used by officers all over the country and the world.

With drones, we believe the next decade is about implementing Drone as First Responder to actively change those outcomes.

We know that the use of force is often a byproduct of walking into the unknown. Body-worn cameras capture those moments, adding transparency between the community and law enforcement.

But here with drones, we believe that flying cameras—drones showing up first on the scene—allowing first responders to see the unknown, to have the right picture at the right time from the right place, will fundamentally give officers the information they need in the moment to make safer, more informed decisions before they arrive.

This parallel in technology is crucial. Bryan, what are your thoughts on that?

Not only does it help in real-time response, but it also has significant post-event value. Speaking with a prosecutor in a major metro area, they told me they needed more cameras because they lacked enough evidence to prosecute certain cases. A drone adds another layer of perspective. It timestamps events, provides documentation of an entire scene, and enhances the ability to see crucial details within seconds of an incident occurring.

Absolutely. And we know that agencies full tilt on drones are seeing these benefits firsthand.