Bellevue is expanding its use of drones as first responders to police or fire scenes.
Bellevue is expanding its use of drones as first responders to police or fire scenes.
A one-year pilot program launches this fall and will enable patrol officers to quickly deploy drones to an incident location to collect key information.
“The Drone as First Responder program is a true force multiplier for the Bellevue Police Department,” said Police Chief Wendell Shirley. “This city resource will empower our officers to respond to calls for service faster, safer, and with greater precision across the city. This program ensures we maximize our capabilities and deploy our resources with efficiency.”
Drones can also show if an emergency response is needed at all.
In Redmond, police saw an 18.8% drop in officer-initiated responses in 2025 because initial information from drones indicated the calls did not require an officer.
Bellevue has been using drones since 2021, primarily to assist officers with large-scale weather damage and traffic collision investigations.
Part of the pilot program expansion includes the addition of two patrol officers who are trained pilots.
To protect community members’ privacy, the police and fire drones will only be deployed during a call for service.
Any data collected by the city will adhere to local retention policies as well as applicable local and state laws.
Community members will also be able to access a web page with a transparency dashboard to receive drone operation information.
The City Council approved funding for the pilot program on Sept. 8, with the Bellevue Police Foundation and Apex Systems also contributing funding.
