Drone as first responder (DFR) programs have valuable payloads. The big question is how to pay for them.
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DFR gives police officers, firefighters and EMS pros a drone’s-eye view of what’s in store for them minutes before they arrive on scene. Drones can drop off medications and track fleeing suspects. Drone management platforms integrate multiple data streams for advanced situational awareness.
But you don’t need to be a city budget director to wonder where the money for all this comes from.
Fortunately, funding sources like federal Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) program and FEMA’s Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems grant program are giving public safety agencies a way to build, implement and manage DFR fleets and protect the public and critical infrastructure from nefarious or unlawful use of drones. Vendors like Motorola Solutions are partnering with Lexipol’s GrantFinder to provide guidance and assistance to agencies applying for grants for DFR and counter-UAS programs.
Why so many public safety agencies want DFR capabilities
Drones — more formally known as “unmanned aircraft systems” or “UAS” — have a proven aerial-surveillance track record. They also offer simple, inexpensive access to places helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft can’t go. Evolving drone-management technologies add first-responder capabilities.
This tech can get drones over an incident scene much sooner than patrol cars or firetrucks can. Pilots fly drones from a safe distance, reducing injury risk. Software creates geofences that limit where drones go and creates three-dimensional object detection to avoid collisions.
High-definition, evidence-worthy video can be live-streamed anywhere from drones dispatched via handheld smart radios. Vendors like Motorola Solutions provide secure storage and risk-management guidelines to help agencies comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules and flight management software for safety and security.
One of the pioneers of DFR is Chula Vista, California, a city of just over 275,000 south of San Diego. Chula Vista started its DFR program in 2018. A data analysis in Government Technology magazine found that drone responses to critical incidents in Chula Vista happened nearly twice as fast as patrol car responses.
A Police1 article illustrated the value of DFR in Chula Vista: A drone arrived on the scene of a car in flames along a road. A live video feed from a drone showed no sign of survivors outside the car, so dispatchers sent a patrol car immediately. Officers arrived just in time to rescue somebody trapped in the car. Seconds later, the car was fully engulfed in flames.
DFR in action
DFR systems have three pillars: remote bases for launching drones, pilots (typically sworn officers) to control drone flights and software that manages video streams and provides real-time situational awareness.
Police1 coverage of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 2025 conference explored how three agencies are succeeding with DFR:
Redmond, Washington, a Seattle suburb of about 82,000, gives officers wide latitude for putting drones in the air. “I allow our pilots to fly on any call for service,” Chief Darrell Lowe said. “We can get anywhere in our city within 90 seconds or less. That situational awareness in under two minutes is critically important.” Pilots are sworn officers, which is essential to the credibility of drone-collected data in court.
San Francisco, California, hub of the Bay Area’s 7.7 million population, uses drones for everyday crime-reduction tasks like discouraging auto burglaries. Commander Thomas Maguire noted another mission-critical use case: avoiding dangerous high-speed pursuits on the city’s busy streets. He recalled an incident where an armed robbery suspect was fleeing the downtown area.
“As this was taking place the drone was deploying,” Maguire said. “The captain very wisely made sure the pursuit was canceled and asked for the drone to take over.” The drone’s thermal-imaging sensors found the suspect hiding under a pier, where officers arrested him.
Lakewood, New Jersey, a city of 135,000 near the Atlantic Coast, deploys DFR for aerial surveillance in high-traffic areas to help deter criminals. Scheduled patrols run security checks and watch for trouble during events. Drones also help with search-and-rescue operations.
Division Chief Anita Koester said drone videos help multiple public safety agencies work together, managing traffic, keeping perimeters safe and coordinating on-scene resources. “It’s not just about police response,” Koester said. “It’s about how many other people need to see this video to become more efficient and more effective.”
On the other hand
An unfortunate side effect of the growth and success of DFR programs in law enforcement is the corresponding growth in drone usage by nefarious actors. To combat the unlawful use of UAS that pose a threat to the safety and security of the American people, communities and institutions, both the Department of Justice and FEMA now include counter-UAS systems among their funding priorities.
What it takes to secure DFR and C-UAS grants
Here’s a quick look at the fundamentals of applying for grants for DFR and C-UAS:
Define needs: Funding organizations like FEMA and the Department of Justice need to know how investing their money will make your community safer. Thus, grant applications require a clear statement of what your agency needs, such as faster response times, reduced threats to officers in high-crime areas or more effective situational awareness during active incidents. You must supply data backing up the need.
The next step is connecting needs to the outcomes UAS technologies deliver. Again, you need data-driven examples of measurable results like fewer needless dispatches and faster reassessments of incident scenes.
Grant success requires showing how UAS drives well-defined safety improvements — and how public spaces may be under threat from UAS-related threats. Don’t be too vague or stray too far into the weeds on the specific technologies. Instead, zero in on desired, quantifiable outcomes. Remember, though, that DFR and C-UAS programs are more than drones, so don’t forget to include drone video and flight control software to safely fly and launch drones, livestream drone video and manage flight data.
Prove readiness: Funders insist on standard operating procedures (SOPs) and detailed training plans. You’ll likely need to show your program complies with regulations like FAA Part 107 and accounts for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. It’s possible that you will also be expected to show how you’ll integrate drone data with data streams from dispatch systems and real-time crime operations centers. Make sure to address these and privacy and civil liberties concerns, as well as other department-specific requirements.
Show accountability: Create a detailed budget that ties specific expenditures to data-informed results and shows how you’ll evaluate the program’s long-term success.
