Drones

Energized by a donation, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s drone program now handles everything from search and rescue to fighting blazes and setting prescribed burns.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office announced that the program will deploy non-lethal drones within seconds after an emergency alert, such as during a school shooting, and relay real-time video footage to law enforcement.

Transportation technology leaders gathered in Los Angeles this week for the annual CoMotion LA conference, where they examined recent innovative endeavors and the issues shaping mobility today.

Police in Gig Harbor, Wash., are the latest Pierce County law enforcement agency to acquire a drone. Plans are for it to assist in areas including missing persons investigations and tracking suspects.

A University of Minnesota project uses drones to examine smoke and then analyze it to understand a fire's flow patterns. It represents a significant step toward using fully autonomous drones for emergency response.

Chippewa County International Airport, in the eastern Upper Peninsula, appears destined to become a drone hub for future flights near the Canadian border. A project there received $400,000 in state funding.

The hub will explore new transportation initiatives while also potentially offering rail service into Toronto, all from Michigan Central, a site that once housed Detroit's passenger train station.

The supplier of public safety technology, which sells AI-based gun detection tools, has launched "aerial detection kits." The company joins peers that have already taken to the skies via drones.

The department deployed the devices 1,371 times from May 2024 through Aug. 31, an analysis shows. Three neighborhoods saw them overhead most often; most were aloft 10 to 20 minutes at a time.

Mooresville, N.C., spent roughly $300,000 on drones for its police department earlier this year, purchasing two First Responder DFR drone systems from the Texas-based company, Flock Safety.

The state will partner with SkyfireAI and CAL Analytics on a two-year pilot program to develop policies and training around the use of drones by first responders, and to assess how they can improve situational awareness.

The companies Skydio and Levatas are providing tech for staff at the Red Rock Correctional Center, where AI-enhanced drones will soon look for contraband and other things not allowed in the prison yard.

Almost a year after buying a drone company, the seller of license plate readers and public safety tech wants to sell drones to retailers, hospitals and other operations. It’s not the first company to make such a move.

Starting next week, the city police department will dispatch drones on some service calls to see if response times and situational understanding improve. Their use will depend on call type, priority and distance.

Government Technology got an inside look at one Minnesota police department's drone program to see how a deadly manhunt exposed limits of its current drone tech and why they're now aspiring for a DFR model.

The federal agency wants to encourage more use of air taxis and drones, including for emergency services. The FAA is seeking proposals from state and local governments — ideas that could eventually scale.

Local governments have been deliberate in rolling out and using the unmanned devices. Transparent information, one analyst said, can help law enforcement find the “big picture” and determine if drones are worth it.

Drones, including those used by consumers, businesses and the military, accounted for a $73 billion global industry last year, some estimates show, with the market likely to more than double by 2030.