More than 1,000 U.S. public safety agencies, including police and fire departments and emergency management agencies, have received waivers from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowing them to automate drone operations in preparation for launching “Drone as First Responder” (DFR) programs. According to data obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) under the Freedom of Information Act, these agencies cleared a key regulatory hurdle permitting them to send drones to call locations before patrols arrive.
This expansion followed the FAA’s streamlining of procedures for granting Part 91 waivers in April 2025. An agency representative said that 976 waivers for DFR programs had been granted from the launch of the first program of its kind in 2018 through April 2025, while the agency issued more waivers between April 2025 and February 2026 than it had granted during the previous seven years combined. The newer figures are based on a release under the Freedom of Information Act, and the latest documented status in it dates to February 2026.
From Manual Flight to Autonomous Operation
This trajectory reflects a shift in police use of drones, from aerial surveillance conducted by a human operator to operations relying more heavily on automation and artificial intelligence. The usual rules require the aircraft to remain within the pilot’s visual line of sight, and the operator must also hold FAA Part 107 certification. Flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), or at an altitude exceeding 200 feet, requires additional FAA approval because of the risks of collisions with aircraft and other aerial vehicles.
Without this approval, an officer inside a building cannot pilot a drone to a call on the other side of the city because the drone would be outside the officer’s visual range. FAA rules also previously required the aircraft to be flown manually to the incident location. DFR programs, however, use launch platforms distributed throughout cities, often on municipal buildings, and allow one operator to oversee several drones at the same time. Obtaining a BVLOS waiver does not mean that every department has launched an active program, but it indicates that the department showed enough interest to meet the necessary regulatory requirements.
What Changes in Practice?
Police departments and companies selling DFR equipment say that drones give officers “situational awareness” before they arrive at a location. This argument was used during the early stages of drone adoption, particularly in dangerous traffic incidents or calls involving an armed suspect. However, an analysis published by Government Technology of a system in Chula Vista, California, indicated that such cases may represent a limited portion of usage, while drones may be sent to low-risk calls involving unhoused people, mental health concerns, or complaints about loud music.
DFR programs have also become an important source of revenue for companies such as Flock Safety and Axon. Axon said that its DFR platform had become one of the company’s fastest-growing sectors. The company also offers products such as TASER and the Fusus system, which allows police to integrate views from public and private cameras.
Flight footage is streamed to police offices and can be stored, shared, and analyzed like other video recordings. According to the article, turning this footage into data that feeds automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) networks requires only a limited amount of additional software. Over the past year, Flock Safety has been able to use its drones as “flying license plate readers.”
Privacy Risks and Accountability Mechanisms
EFF believes that normalizing DFR programs threatens the privacy of American communities because aerial cameras can film places that are difficult for an ordinary patrol to access, such as backyards, rooftops, and even areas beyond windows. This may occur from distances at which people do not realize they are being monitored. The organization cited a recent leak of footage from the San Francisco Police Department, which it said demonstrated how easily covert flights can monitor innocent people for several minutes without their knowledge.
The expansion is not limited to daytime operations. In October 2024, the Campbell Police Department in California announced that it had obtained the FAA’s first approval for nighttime BVLOS operations, saying it was the “first” to integrate radar technology with electro-optical sensors to improve airspace monitoring, allowing a single remote pilot to launch drones safely during the day and night.
EFF urges communities to participate in the decision to purchase these programs in the first place, rather than merely discussing how they will operate after contracting. Useful transparency practices include publishing flight paths and their reasons, sometimes in real time, through public portals. In California, AB 481 requires police departments to notify the public in advance of their intention to acquire drones, establish policies before purchasing them, and provide annual updates on their uses, giving local councils and communities an opportunity to comment or object before any contract is signed.
According to the article’s conclusion, agencies considering these programs need clear acceptable-use policies, transparency regarding every deployment, and periodic reviews of outcomes. The review should include the option to discontinue the program if it fails to demonstrate that it is achieving its intended purpose, rather than treating the purchase of the technology as a final decision.