Flock’s first-responder drones are arriving before officers in some US cities

The deployments are changing how some emergencies are handled, while privacy objections are slowing adoption in other places.

U.S. cities are beginning to use Flock’s Drones-as-First-Responder system, which sends rooftop-launched drones to emergency incidents and feeds live video to dispatchers and officers, but the deployments are running into privacy pushback. Fort Worth, Texas said a two-month pilot sent drones to 162 911 calls, with an average response time of 112 seconds; the drone arrived first in 76 of those calls and let authorities clear 11 without dispatching officers. Other places cited as evaluating, piloting, or contracting for the system include Castle Rock, Colorado; Dunwoody, Georgia; Fulton County, Georgia; and Middletown, Connecticut. At the same time, some jurisdictions have rejected offers tied to the system, including Berkeley, California’s $2 million proposal and Bridgeport, Connecticut’s $500,000 lease for two drones, largely over fears about warrantless access and data sharing.