Lewisville unveils Drone First Responder program, cites officer-safety and 95% coverage goal

The Lewisville Police Department on Monday presented its Drone First Responder program to the mayor and council, describing new rooftop docks, hardware specs and plans to integrate drones with dispatch to speed situational awareness for officers.

Chief Brook Rollins told the council the department began its drone work in 2020 "starting with just 2 drones and 5 pilots," and has since added 16 additional drones and grown to 18 total pilots. He said the department has seen a roughly 250% increase in flights since 2021, that 40% of flights occurred since 2025, and that the program is on pace for more than 1,000 missions this year.

Rollins said Drone First Responder, or DFR, enables near‑immediate deployment of drones that stream live video and telemetry to officers responding to calls. "This provides excellent critical situational awareness, better officer safety, and even more efficiency for our team," Rollins said. He described three primary mission goals for the program: officer safety, improved citizen experience and crime reduction.

Hardware and operations

The presentation showed the Skydio X10 platform, which Rollins described as offering about 40 minutes of flight time, top speeds near 45 miles per hour and thermal and zoom sensors. The department…