Fairfax County police responded quickly when a recent 911 caller said they saw a man armed with a bow and arrow standing along a median near the Fair Oaks Mall.
While a number of officers were dispatched to the scene, Police Chief Kevin Davis said the department’s drone arrived first. It got to the site in 57 seconds.
Then, it started feeding back live video of a man who didn’t appear to have a bow and arrow, ”but a man in a mental health crisis armed with a stick. And he was pointing a stick, not a bow and arrow, at passing motorists.”
Once officers realized that was the case, Davis said they were able to downgrade the priority response.
“They can dial down the emotions and the adrenaline that pump through their veins any time a call like that goes out,” Davis said. “It mitigates a potential use-of-force scenario of a person in a mental health crisis, because the call is described as something different than it actually is. It’s that visibility and awareness that’s huge.”
As part of the “Drone as First Responder” pilot program, the Northern Virginia department is launching drones from the Fair Oaks and Franconia districts. It started using this version of the technology in the fall.
Within the first 100 missions, the drones recorded an average response time of 83 seconds. It was the first to arrive on a scene 71 times.
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The drones respond to crimes in outdoor settings, but they also are used in medical emergencies, car crashes and cases of missing people.
Davis said they received Federal Aviation Administration waivers that allow them to fly a drone beyond a “line of sight restriction.”
Once the drone arrives at a location, a drone operator in the Real Time Crime Center takes over. It uses artificial intelligence to avoid buildings, trees or anything else that may be in its path, Davis said.
It hovers over the scene and sends back live video for as long as needed.
“Our police officers have greater awareness about what they’re about to arrive at and get into before they even get onto the scene,” Davis said. “That’s going to be the 2026 difference maker.”
The drone is equipped with a parachute in the event that something goes wrong, Davis said, and it’s “no bigger or smaller than the average drone that your mind’s eye can picture.”
“The more information we have before we get to any scene, fill in the blank, any scene, the likely for a better outcome between the police and the community members who we are poised to then interact with is going to be safer,” Davis said.
Montgomery County police in Maryland are using a similar program.