5 steps for starting a public safety drone program

Step 1: Define your mission objectives

Start with your agency’s goals. What operational challenges are you trying to solve? Common use cases for public safety drones include:

• Search and rescue

• Crime scene and traffic crash documentation

• Tactical overwatch and high-risk operations

• Emergency response and disaster relief

• Large event monitoring

• De-escalation and public safety support

Understanding your airspace is critical. Consider FAA regulations, topography, urban density, and weather. Your drone program should be built around real-world needs and operating constraints.

Step 2: Build community trust through transparency

Privacy concerns are one of the biggest hurdles to public drone adoption. Proactively addressing them builds trust and keeps your program viable. Here are best practices:

• Begin community outreach well before your first deployment

• Share the goals and public safety benefits of your drone program

• Use public dashboards to display anonymized flight data

• Solicit feedback from civic groups, city leaders, and community stakeholders

• Reinforce how your policies protect citizen privacy and data rights

Step 3: Create a sustainable budget

Drone programs can scale to meet your agency’s budget, starting with basic capabilities and growing over time. Sustainable success requires long-term planning across several key areas. Consider:

• NDAA-compliant hardware that aligns with federal procurement guidance. Options may include platforms like Skydio X10, Skydio Dock, or Sky-Hero, depending on your agency’s mission and operational priorities.

• FAA Part 107 licensing or Certificate of Waiver (COW), based on your chosen deployment model

• Ongoing pilot training and recertification to maintain compliance and readiness

• Program management, maintenance, and secure evidence handling that meet agency and legal standards

Many agencies report a significant ROI from their drone programs by reducing unnecessary dispatches, lowering operational costs, and increasing officer safety.

Because drones often arrive on scene before ground units, they provide officers with an overhead view of the situation. This early perspective helps identify potential threats, assess hazards, and plan safer approaches.

Axon and Skydio provide a Call for Service Analysis and ROI review to help agencies justify the investment with real-world operational data.

Step 4: Choose hardware built for public safety

Before selecting hardware, agencies should take time to understand their operational environment and mission needs. Factors like altitude flexibility, line of sight, airspace complexity, and response priorities directly influence hardware and waiver requirements. Some agencies may benefit most from low-altitude operations in dense urban environments, while others require broader situational coverage at higher altitudes.

Axon offers two compliant approaches to enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, tailored to fit the diverse realities of Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs:

• Shielded Operations with Skydio X10: For urban, low-altitude missions, Skydio X10 supports shielded DFR operations under 200 feet, leveraging onboard autonomy to navigate complex environments close to buildings. These operations require fewer regulatory hurdles and provide high-resolution situational awareness in tight spaces.

• High-Altitude BVLOS with DedroneBeyond: For broader visibility and higher-altitude flights up to 400 feet, DedroneBeyond enables safe BVLOS operations without human observers, using advanced detect-and-avoid technologies that meet FAA and ASTM standards.

In response to new federal drone security guidance issued in June 2025, agencies are now encouraged to transition away from foreign-manufactured drones and prioritize NDAA-compliant, American-made systems for law enforcement and critical infrastructure operations.

Choosing compliant hardware is no longer just best practice. It is a regulatory imperative. Agencies that proactively align their drone programs with these mandates will be better positioned for future funding opportunities, risk mitigation, and operational continuity.

Select drones and supporting infrastructure that meet your mission profile and regulatory obligations. For most agencies, the ideal solution includes:

• Skydio X10: American-made, NDAA-compliant drone with autonomous flight, NightSense for zero-light missions, and 360° obstacle avoidance.

• Skydio Dock: A weather-resistant docking station that enables deployments that can be autonomously navigated once triggered by a remote operator, often in under 20 seconds.

• DedroneBeyond: Multi-sensor airspace monitoring that supports safe and compliant Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. It enables agencies to extend drone missions beyond line of sight without relying on human observers.

• Sky-Hero Tactical Robotics System: A fully integrated ecosystem of indoor tactical robotics, including uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), and pole cameras. It is purpose-built for SWAT, law enforcement, and military use. Sky-Hero delivers NDAA-compliant capabilities in GPS and signal denied environments, enhancing mission effectiveness and officer safety in confined or high-risk spaces.

These tools provide flexibility to operate both at high altitudes for wide-area visibility and low altitudes for detailed observation, supporting a range of missions from tactical responses to crowd monitoring.

Step 5: Provide real training and operational support

Even the most advanced drone program will underperform without proper training and operational structure. Building a high-performing team requires more than technical flight skills. It demands situational judgment, regulatory fluency, and a deep understanding of agency protocols. Agencies must equip personnel with the knowledge and tools to make confident, compliant decisions in high-pressure situations.

Drone success isn’t just about flight. It’s about decision-making. Your team needs training on:

• When and where to deploy drones, including understanding the difference between routine and high-risk response scenarios

• How to handle chain of custody and ensure secure, admissible evidence collection from drone footage

• FAA regulations and Certificate of Waiver (COW) management, including keeping up with evolving compliance standards

• Interpreting drone-derived intelligence and coordinating with field teams for safer, more effective outcomes

Ongoing training should include 5 to 10 hours of flight time and program-specific education monthly.

Axon’s team of strategists can also assist with FAA waivers, training plans, and phased implementation, from crawl to full Drone as First Responder (DFR) deployment.

Axon Air: built for real-time public safety

Axon Air is the fully integrated Drone as First Responder solution that empowers public safety agencies to respond faster, safer, and smarter. With NDAA-compliant hardware, real-time command tools, and seamless integration into the Axon Ecosystem, Axon Air delivers measurable impact:

• Faster response: Drones launch in under 20 seconds and often arrive before ground units.

• Smarter decisions: Real-time aerial intelligence supports de-escalation and resource allocation.

• Increased trust: Transparency dashboards show how drones are used, reinforcing accountability.

• Operational efficiency: Integrated tools reduce dispatches, save costs, and improve officer safety.

Speak with an Axon Air Strategist today to map your drone goals to a real-world deployment strategy.