By Fritz Reber
As most in the public safety drone space know by now, the drone deployment method known as Drone as First Responder (DFR) has gained significant attention, momentum and investment.
Just in the last year or so, several companies have come out with DFR solution product announcements that promise to scale. From the earliest days, we in the public safety arena dreamed of the private sector solving all the challenges of conducting DFR operations by providing a turnkey solution. Without this, each agency must become experts in FAA regulations and pull together a hodgepodge of software, hardware and people. It’s difficult, expensive, time-consuming and very limiting in terms of operational capabilities.
How DFR began
For background, DFR began at the Chula Vista (California) Police Department, with the first official launch occurring in October 2018. Chula Vista PD recently announced its 20,000th successful DFR mission. In the nearly six years of the existence of this advanced drone deployment method, the number of agencies actively deploying DFR has increased. Up until recently, however, due to limitations in technology and regulatory relief, DFR operations have not matured significantly since the early days. Virtually all well-known DFR locations are deploying essentially the same way as we did on day one: with humans on the roof to address the aircraft management and airspace awareness elements of DFR.
Elements of DFR
I’ve broken down Drone as First Responder into five elements that I’ve termed the 5 As. These elements are essentially problem sets that must be addressed to conduct DFR operations. They are:
- Aircraft: An agency must select a type/brand of drone to fly.
- Aircraft management: An agency must find a way to inspect, change batteries, and ensure safe takeoff and landing before and after each flight.
- Airspace awareness: An agency must find a way to detect and avoid (DAA) other objects in the air and on the ground.
- Automation software: An agency must select a software solution that allows remote operation, addresses loss of link procedures, responds to launch trigger events, etc.
- Approval: Finally, an agency must get approval from the FAA to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) based on the solutions A1 through A4 above, as well as permission from the community based on trust through transparency and accountability.
For a deeper dive into the 5 As, see this article.
DFR 1.0
DFR 1.0 — or as many refer to it, the “Chula Vista PD” style of DFR — utilizes humans to manage the aircraft and monitor the airspace (problem sets A2 and A3 above). These humans are typically on a rooftop and must have a Part 107 FAA license. They increase the expense and decrease the ability to operate around the clock, across the calendar, and in all locations and climates.
We understood from the earliest days at Chula Vista PD that for DFR to truly scale, the industry must find ways to remove humans from the roof. Chief Roxana Kennedy embraced the role as the “lighthouse agency” for others. It was an example of leadership with the stated mission of proving the DFR use case. Ultimately, the efforts at Chula Vista PD, with the risk and expense involved in blazing the trail, were precisely so that private sector innovation and investment would follow. The goal from the very beginning, beyond the benefit to the community, was to lay the groundwork for the technological innovation and regulatory relief necessary for every agency to be able to access this life-saving capability.
The first small step in scaling DFR 1.0 at Chula Vista PD was replacing expensive police officers on the roof with third-party private sector Part 107 pilots. This outsourcing reduces the cost and leaves the actual piloting of the drone to agency representatives, typically police officers or real-time crime center staff.
The majority of the current well-known DFR programs use outsourced civilian personnel who staff the rooftop and handle the airspace awareness and aircraft management processes. However, the entire DFR industry is realizing that to truly scale, there must be solutions that remove the need for humans on the roof. Most envision this to take the form of an automated dock-based system supported by a Detect and Avoid (DAA) system (typically a layered approach involving different data sources such as radar and ADS-B). This evolution of using technology to remove the human elements in the 5 As is referred to as DFR 2.0.
DFR 2.0
DFR 2.0 in simplest terms is DFR 1.0 but without humans on the roof. DFR 2.0 reduces costs and expands operational periods by allowing public safety agencies to utilize the least number of human resources, ideally enabling one person to immediately respond with a drone to any location in their jurisdiction with perfect airspace awareness.
DFR 2.0, as most envision it today, involves an automated drone docking station that recharges or swaps the batteries on the drone after each mission. The station also serves to inspect and protect the drone. The DAA system is ideally integrated into the pilot’s remote operation software so that the object detection and pilot-alerting system is automated and doesn’t rely on the pilot’s constant proactive attention and reaction as they are likely focused on the mission at hand.
DFR industry
So where are we as an industry in providing DFR 2.0 for public safety agencies? Well, admittedly, it’s taken longer than I thought it would. It’s a hard problem to solve, and the demand to justify the private sector investment grew steadily but was hindered by regulatory limitations and the aforementioned expense and effort required in standing up DFR 1.0. This chicken-and-egg dilemma was only overcome by the fact that DFR was so valuable to agencies that they were willing to invest the time and money before waiting for the “end-state” turnkey DFR 2.0 solution to be affordable and available.
Today, it appears we are amid the transition from DFR 1.0 to 2.0. The FAA BVLOS waivers aren’t yet broadly accessible, but a few unique waivers have been approved, with many others under review, that promise to unlock this “holy grail” of BVLOS waivers. This waiver would allow DFR operations without the requirement of dedicated human visual observers.
The first version of DFR 2.0 occurred at Pearland Police Department in Texas. Spearheaded by Brandon Karr, it allowed BVLOS without dedicated human observers. The solution has limitations, such as it’s capable of daytime operations only, it’s costly for large area coverage, and the flight range and launch speed are limited by the dock system. Finally, this solution still requires agencies to pull together hardware and software from multiple vendors. Drone service providers (DSPs) are serving as the single source for this DFR 2.0 solution, and a few agencies in the country, like Oswego PD, are following in Pearland’s footsteps. However, it does seem the market is still waiting for the appearance of the first scalable, 24/7-365 capable, DFR 2.0 solution. It appears the wait is about over.
Are we there yet?
Several companies, including the one I work for, are selling or at least announcing complete DFR 2.0 solutions today. They necessarily involve a dock station system and a DAA system that enables the FAA approval needed. As discussed above, the DAA systems typically involve multiple aircraft detection solutions or services. This allows for redundancy and enables night and day airspace awareness. These mitigations have been included in BVLOS waiver submissions to the FAA, and the industry is eager for permissions to truly unlock DFR 2.0.
I’ve had a front-row seat to the evolution of DFR, from spearheading its launch at Chula Vista PD to working with two major DFR solution providers. Many of my friends, and a few former colleagues from Chula Vista PD, now work for direct competitors in this space. I’m eager for the next step in this journey and hope to be part of the team that enables it. While I naturally have a bias toward Aerodome, I recognize that this is likely to be a rising tide that lifts all boats. The race for DFR dominance is clearly underway, and it’s incredibly satisfying to be a part of it. It’s through competition that DFR 2.0 became a reality, and it’s through competition that the best solutions will reach the market.
As John Santry, VP at Skydio, recently quipped on social media, “Begun, the DFR wars have.” This looks to be the case, and the true winners will be the public safety agencies and the communities they serve.
About the author
Fritz Reber is a retired Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) Police Captain. He was the UAS Commander who conceived of and worked to stand up the first DFR Program at Chula Vista PD. Fritz retired in 2018 and is now the Vice President-Professional Services at Aerodome, a leading provider of DFR solutions for Public Safety. Previously, he was Head of Public Safety Integration at Skydio, the largest manufacturer of drones in the U.S. While at CVPD he also invented, helped develop and worked to implement Live911, a key tool for the majority of DFR programs worldwide.
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