With a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program, BPD officers remotely pilot a drone to the scene of an emergency in two minutes or less. First responders can see what is happening through the live video feed, before officers or other teams arrive. This gives them accurate, critical information about what is happening on the ground so they can better assess the situation and send the appropriate response.
Why DFR is important
DFR can help police and other first responders provide a safer, better response when you call for help.
Today, when someone calls 911, we rely on what callers tell us. Officers respond based on that information. But sometimes 911 calls are not fully accurate. Callers might not see everything that is happening, or multiple callers may give conflicting information.
With a drone as the first responder, we can get a clear, real-time view of the situation faster and make better decisions about the right resources for the situation.
This is safer for everyone involved:
- People on the roads or in the area as we’re en route to a scene.
- Officers who are responding to the call, because they are equipped with more accurate and up-to-date information about what they are responding to.
- People involved at the scene, because we can de-escalate the situation before we even arrive or, vice versa, send the right response to protect people in a dangerous situation.
How DFR works
- A 911 call comes in.
- A BPD pilot launches a drone right away.
- When the drone arrives, it sends a live video feed to the pilot.
- The video helps them understand what is happening, and the pilot shares what they see with dispatchers and other officers.
- Based on what the drone operator sees, we send the right resources—or none at all if the drone shows no response is needed.
Drones are positioned at three locations:
- Bellingham Police station
- Pacific Street Operations Center: the City’s Parks and Public Works building
- Bellis Fair mall
DFR is a citywide resource, not just for law enforcement. BPD pilots can use it to support all emergency responses, including fire, EMS, and disaster management.
Transparency, privacy, and keeping data secure
Our flight dashboard lets you see each flight in the DFR program. You can see where and when the drone flew and which case it was associated with.
Data collection
Protecting community privacy is a core part of how we use DFR. As the drone flies, its camera stays pointed at the horizon until it gets to the scene or back to its homebase. At the scene, it lowers the camera to get video of the situation.
The drone does not:
- Look at unrelated details along the way.
- Use automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology.
- Fly without a human pilot.
The drone does capture video of the area around the incident, including people nearby and building exteriors.
Video storage
We store the video in a secure evidence system – the same one we use for body‑worn camera footage.
Only BPD staff can access the video footage. BPD owns all the video, and our vendor agreements do not allow them to access the data. We only share it if required by law – for example, if we receive a search warrant for the footage.
