The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is testing a new way to get eyes on emergencies before deputies arrive: sending a drone ahead of them.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is testing a new way to get eyes on emergencies before deputies arrive: sending a drone ahead of them.
The Sheriff’s Office is launching a Drone as First Responder pilot program in partnership with Snohomish County 911 and drone maker Skydio.
The program will test whether remotely deployed drones can quickly give first responders live information about crimes, crashes, searches, and other emergencies.
The SCSO has used remotely piloted drones to support patrol operations since 2019. The new program, however, will allow drones stationed at strategic locations to be launched remotely within seconds of a call rather than waiting for a drone team to travel to the scene.
The drones are described as semi-autonomous. GPS coordinates are entered, and the drone flies to the location, though a trained operator can take over. “I can take it over at any time, but I’m not flying the drone here; the drone is autonomously flying itself,” said Sgt. Bradley Dawes, the sheriff’s office drone unit supervisor.
In some cases, the Sheriff’s Office said, a drone could reach an incident within minutes and before responding deputies.
Sheriff Susanna Johnson said the goal is to give first responders better information faster, particularly during crimes in progress, searches for missing people and incidents involving dangerous suspects.
During the pilot, drones could be used for crimes in progress, fleeing or wanted suspects, foot chases, searches for missing or vulnerable people, traffic collisions, rescues and other rapidly evolving incidents.
The Sheriff’s Office said the drones will not be used for general surveillance or random flights. Each mission will be tied to a 911 call or other public safety operation.
When a drone is dispatched, its camera will point forward toward the horizon while it travels to the incident location. Once there, it could provide a live view of the scene, locate people, identify hazards, or help responding units establish a perimeter.
For example, if deputies are responding to a fleeing suspect, a drone could follow the suspect from the air and relay information to deputies on the ground, potentially reducing the need for responders to put themselves in unnecessary danger.
Officials stressed that the drones are intended to supplement — not replace — deputies, firefighters, dispatchers or other first responders.
The SCSO plans to evaluate the program’s response capabilities, procedures, safeguards, and overall effectiveness.
Once the pilot ends, participating agencies will review the results and potential public safety benefits before deciding what comes next.
