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Sheriff proposes testing drones as first responders, citing faster response times and countywide coverage
Summary
The sheriff presented a pilot to test drones as first responders over the next one to two years, saying drones could reach many calls countywide much faster than ground units; commissioners raised privacy and camera-data concerns.
The Davie County sheriff unveiled a proposal to test "drones as a first responder" (DFR) technology that would integrate drones with 911 dispatch to give crews aerial situational awareness and, in some cases, reach scenes long before ground units.
In a formal presentation the sheriff (speaker 4) described an impact analysis built from 2024 CAD data showing 25,695 countywide calls; of those, 4,398 calls would have been within the proposed drone coverage zones. For those calls the sheriff said the average ground response time (including call-processing) was about 10 minutes 54 seconds; a drone on the proposed deployed network could be on scene in roughly 2 minutes 42 seconds. "We could get there 3.3 times faster than a traditional responding personnel," the sheriff said.
Program outline and partners: The pilot would initially test five drones covering approximately 38 square miles, focusing on the county's busiest zones. The sheriff said the program could support multiple agencies (sheriff, fire departments) and allow existing department-owned drones to be requested through a central flight operations unit; three fire departments were identified as early test partners. Video and sensor packages discussed include LPR (license-plate-recognition) synergy with ground cameras and a radar unit on the drone to monitor nearby air traffic.
Privacy and oversight questions: Commissioners and residents raised privacy questions and referenced concerns about camera networks ("flock" cameras). The sheriff responded that the agency maintains public pages describing camera quantities, retention policies and who can access footage, and that the department retains LPR images for a limited period (he said 30 days) and does not continuously surveil people. He also said the drones would not be used to conduct general, continuous surveillance; the proposed program is dispatch-driven and would publish flight paths on a public web page for transparency.
Why it matters: Proponents say rapid aerial views can improve responder safety, help identify real hazards before crews arrive, and triage low-priority calls to free ground resources. Privacy advocates and several commissioners asked for clear policies on data retention, access, public notification and independent oversight before the program expands beyond the test phase.
Next steps: The sheriff described a demo day already held and a modest test plan of one to two years. The board did not take a formal vote on program funding at the meeting; staff and the sheriff indicated they would return with more details and videos from the demo for the board to review.
