New program offers cities support for drone first responder programs
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The National League of Cities has launched an initiative to support cities’ education and exploration of drone technologies that can enhance public safety agencies’ response to 911 calls.
Drone as first responder programs are taking off across the U.S., and a new partnership between the National League of Cities and a U.S.-based drone manufacturer aims to assist localities’ as they consider launching their own drone systems.
The National League of Cities, a nonprofit organization that comprises more than 2,600 member cities nationwide, is collaborating with the drone manufacturer BRINC to offer municipalities education, guidance and assistance for adopting and implementing drone as first responder, or DFR, programs, NLC leaders announced last week.
“Every day, local governments deliver for their residents by utilizing practical, proven tools that help first responders do their jobs safely and effectively,” Clarence Anthony, CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities, said in a statement. “NLC’s partnership with BRINC ensures our members have access to trusted information and leading technology as they explore drone as first responder programs in their communities.”
The NLC and BRINC partnership will offer city leaders support with DFR program design, governance, training and onboarding. Participants will also learn how to plan for drone launch locations and how to communicate the benefits of DFR programs to the public to accelerate the tech’s adoption for responding to 911 calls.
DFR programs vary in scope and use cases among U.S. cities, but they generally entail the use of a drone or drone network that is deployed as part of public safety missions and offer enhanced visuals and situational awareness for personnel, said Scott Shtofman, vice president and counsel of regulatory affairs at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International.
Drones can scope out a scene, assessing for potentially dangerous terrain or identifying persons of interest, before public safety officials determine if they want to dispatch additional resources and personnel to the event, said Shtofman. That early evaluation can help first responders arrive at and resolve an emergency more timely and efficiently, creating a valuable tool for public safety agencies facing staffing and budgetary restrictions.
Indeed, DFR programs are “definitely growing,” Shtofman said. Particularly after the Federal Aviation Administration improved its waiver approval process for public safety agencies to leverage DFR programs last year, “I think drones are more [included in] the budget cycle and planning for cities and municipalities,” he said.
San Bernardino County, California, for example, allocated $562,500 to its local police department to purchase drones, docking systems, software and other equipment to create a DFR program last summer.
In Michigan, the city of Sterling Heights is pouring $678,822 over the next five years to establish and maintain a DFR program to assist with a range of public safety operations, including law enforcement, fire fighting, traffic incident reconstruction, severe weather monitoring and others, city officials announced in early 2026. Yonkers, New York, also announced it will make permanent the Yonkers Police Department’s DFR program this year following a 2024 pilot program that cost approximately $100,000.
The NLC-BRINC partnership is poised to expand cities’ understanding of and access to drone technology, which is particularly helpful for smaller and less-resourced public safety departments that have lacked the financial or staff capacity to leverage more modern tech solutions, Shtofman said.
Another benefit to assisting cities with DFR program development is that they could start leveraging more drone-oriented funding opportunities, such as a $500 million grant program the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced late last year aimed at helping state and local governments adopt tech for addressing drones that pose public safety and security threats, he explained.
Supporting cities’ adoption of drone programs helps “dispel misunderstandings or misconceptions about what drones are being used for,” Shtofman said, explaining that leaders may be hesitant to launch such initiatives due to public concern over drones’ impact on personal privacy.
Encouraging the exploration and education about the technology through initiatives like NLC and BRINC’s could further prove that drones can serve as “a force multiplier meant to provide safety both to communities and [public safety agencies],” he said.
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