Skydio

Veronica, the cow, had quite the night.🐄 On Friday, October 16, #teamHCSO deputies responded to Double Branch Road after a local owner reported his 18-month-old Gyr heifer, Veronica, had jumped the fence the night before and was nowhere to be found. Our Drone Unit took to the sky and spotted her stuck deep in the mud in a canal off Boat Bayou. She couldn’t move. Our Ag Unit and Marine Unit came to help. This was no easy rescue. A rising tide. Deep mud. Mangroves so thick that no vehicle or machine could get through. Fading daylight. And one very large, very uncooperative cow. Eight hours later, our team pulled Veronica to safety. Without their grit and determination, she would not have made it out of that mud. Veronica is now safe and resting comfortably at the HCSO range.👏

INNOVATION IN PUBLIC SAFETY: AUBURN POLICE DEPARTMENTS DRONE AS FIRST RESPONDER TRIAL From September 11 through October 9, 2026, the Auburn Police Department conducted a trial of an innovative public safety technology known as Drone as First Responder (DFR). In partnership with Skydio, the department deployed two Skydio X-10 drones housed in two automated docking stations. This technology allowed trained drone pilots to remotely deploy drones to calls for service, providing officers with valuable real-time aerial information before and during their response. The results demonstrate the significant potential of this technology to enhance public safety, improve situational awareness, and support more informed decision-making. During the 29-day trial, the department recorded: - 518 drone flights, averaging 18.5 flights per day. - 215 flights (41.5%) in which a drone arrived on scene before responding officers. - 514 flights (99.2%) in which drones provided helpful information to support the response. - 53 calls (10.2%) cleared without requiring a patrol officer to respond. - 322 flights (62.2%) provided aerial overwatch to improve situational awareness. - 74 flights (14.3%) assisted in locating individuals. - 53 flights (10.2%) assisted in locating vehicles. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR COMMUNITY? The DFR program demonstrated how emerging technology can help officers respond more effectively while making better use of available public safety resources. By providing a real-time view of an incident, drones can help officers assess situations, identify potential hazards, locate individuals or vehicles, and determine what resources may be needed before arriving on scene. In some cases, the information provided by a drone allowed a call to be resolved without dispatching a patrol officer, keeping officers available to respond to other emergencies and calls for service. LOOKING AHEAD The success of this trial provides valuable information as the Auburn Police Department evaluates the potential for a permanent Drone as First Responder program. While drones will never replace the important work of our officers, they can serve as a powerful tool to support safer, more efficient, and better-informed responses. We extend our appreciation to Skydio and the dedicated APD personnel who helped make this trial possible. Our mission remains the same: leveraging innovation and technology to better protect and serve the Auburn community. https://lnkd.in/gmGciuWN

We are officially up and running at 100% with our Skydio DFR program! Our first three docks went in a couple months ago, and as of last week the final three are installed. We’re now flying six X10s from four launch points around the city. This is a big step for the safety of our citizens and our officers. Getting eyes on a scene quicker gives officers real-time information before they arrive, which leads to a better prepared and better executed response. A well informed officer is a better decision making officer. Some quick numbers, and keep in mind these come from only three docks at one launch point. Since we started flying in early August, we’ve completed about 600 flights. We’ve arrived on scene first 54% of the time and provided important information to officers 98% of the time. About 10% of the calls DFR responds to have been cleared without needing a patrol officer to respond at all. That saves money and keeps officers available for the calls that actually need them. This has been a fun project and a great learning experience for me. I also ended up building real relationships with the team at Skydio. Thank you to Kent McIntire, PMP, Alex Ashford, Quinius Lyles, and Haafiz Shafau for all of your help along the way. Thank you to Alex Lingerfelt and Karen Shearer for their assistance as well. It’s been a team effort, and watching our pilots make full use of this technology for our citizens and officers has been very rewarding. Thank you to Chief Curtis Cheeks III for trusting me, and the team above, to take this on, lead us to where we are now, and back the decisions that had to be made. This is just the start. I can’t wait to see how the program grows with all of our docks operational. Keep an eye out for more posts as we continue to share information about the program.