The Hempstead Police Department in Long Island, New York in the USA has announced the launch of a Drone-as-First-Responder (DFR) system, where drones will respond to emergency incidents and calls in a faster and safer way.

The programme will be implemented with collaboration from Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based provider of public safety technology. The company’s Flock Aerodome DFR system will position drones at automated, battery-swapping docks across the city, ready to be deployed to calls for service and emergency situations at a moment’s notice.

Situating the drones in these strategic positions around the city will enable them to reach anywhere within a 4-mile radius to get immediate eyes on the scene.

The system proprietor says the drone response time, coming at an of 85 seconds, will provide a safer, more efficient method of response over traditional police air assets.

“It’s a new day and this is the beginning, drone technology,” declared Hempstead Village Police Chief Richard Holland.

“Hempstead PD has long been at the forefront of high-tech policing, and we’re excited to see the public safety benefits this game-changing DFR system will bring to our village.

“Mainly real-time crime that is going on at the moment. It allows us to get fresh eyes on the scene possibly before a member of the force can get there.”

As usual, the drones will come with advanced technology, including A_-powered video analytics, and will integrate with Hempstead Police’s existing Flock Safety License Plate Reader (LPR) and video cameras, speeding response times from a camera alert on a stolen vehicle, known wanted offender, or detected missing person to drone dispatch.

All of these systems are streamlined through Hempstead’s Real-Time Crime Center.

“Drone-as-First-Responder programs will play a central role in the future of public safety, speeding emergency response, de-escalating dangerous situations, and getting to closed cases faster,” said Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley. “No other technology helps law enforcement officers get eyes on the scene faster than a drone.”

While the village is located near the flight paths to Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports, the drones will only operate in local airspace.  It’s expected to be several months before the drones are operational at least until they win the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flock Safety is an all-in-one technology solutions provider whose service is to eliminate crime and keep communities safe. Its intelligent platform combines the power of communities at scale – including cities, businesses, schools, and law enforcement agencies – to shape a safer future together.

The company has worked with more than 5,000 communities across the USA to help solve and deter crime in the pursuit of safer communities for everyone.

Drone as a First Responder programs are initiatives in which police departments use a drone to respond to an emergency call right when it happens, deploying the drone to the scene of the call.

When the drone arrives, it livestreams video from the location of the call, giving officers en route the advantage of having aerial intelligence to prepare them for what they might encounter at the scene.

In a DFR program, drones are stationed at strategic locations throughout a city, ready to be dispatched immediately when an emergency call comes in.

A team monitoring the drone’s live feed (as shown above) can provide tactical information to officers on the way to the scene. This real-time intelligence can help officers avoid an ambush, know the direction in which a fleeing suspect ran, or add nuance to their understanding of the situation to help them decide whether an officer is needed at all.

Keep reading to learn everything there is to know about Drone as First Responder programs, including our list of the top first responder drones on the market, the benefits of using a drone as a first responder, and how to get a DFR program started at your public safety agency.