Drone as First Responder (DFR) Program

The mission of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) Program is to provide air support to 911 or police generated calls for service in a safe, responsible, and transparent manner.

The DFR program will:

• Improve police response times.
• Allow MCPD to be more efficient with police resources.
• Provide real time information to ground officers to allow for better decision making.
• Assist with de-escalation of incidents to enhance safety for both officers and our community.
• Assist with locating and apprehending criminal suspects.

Overview

The DFR program consists of prepositioning an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) on top of a building within an operational area. When a 911 or police generated call for service occurs, the UAS will launch and fly to the scene of the call. If ground officers are still needed to respond, the UAS will stay over the scene until the call is stabilized at which time the UAS will return to the launch/landing location. There are times when the DFR may be able to discontinue a ground officer response to a call which would allow officers to divert to other emergency calls or law enforcement activities. The DFR program will be used only to respond to 911 or police generated calls for service and will NOT be patrolling an area or proactively deployed for other reasons such as surveillance. Should you have questions on the DFR program, please reach out to MCPDUAS@montgomerycountymd.gov or 240-773-6500.

Flight Maps & Data

Launch Flight Maps and Data