Denver suburb will be sending drones as first responders
May 14, 2025, 4:40 PM | Updated: May 15, 2025, 3:41 pm
I joke a lot on my radio show about robots soon taking over the world. Well, here’s the next step!
Soon, drones will be the first to respond to some 911 calls in Commerce City, Colorado.
The Commerce City Police Department announced Wednesday that it is launching the Drone as First Responder program, or DFR, which allows professionals in the agency to operate drones remotely to help with calls for service.
The drones will be strategically placed all over the city, where they will be able to be launched, flown and docked again by remote pilots working in the real-time crime center. Drones will be installed at the tops of several buildings.
The drones will only be authorized to launch after a call for service from a citizen reporting an event in progress in which a drone may help police, or after an alert from the FLOCK public safety system, which detects license plate numbers and gunfire.
The drones will not be used to survey the city or actively look for any law violations, and will only be used in response to calls or alerts to help officers in the field.
