MANY MINDEDPolice drone-response programs cleared for a nationwide expansion
More than 1,000 US public safety agencies had received FAA waivers to automate drone operations as of February 2026, according to a FOIA release. These Part 91 waivers are the approval needed to run drone-as-first-responder (DFR) programs, in which AI launches drones from rooftop pads and lets a single operator fly several at once. After the FAA streamlined the process in April 2025, it issued more waivers in the following ten months than in the previous seven years combined; only 976 had been granted from the first DFR program in 2018 through April 2025.
DFR is sold by companies including Flock Safety and Axon, and Axon has described the platform as among its fastest-growing sectors. Flock has turned its drones into flying automated license plate readers. A Government Technology analysis of Chula Vista, California found many deployments answered low-risk calls involving unhoused people, mental health, and noise complaints.
This is a friction signal for the shared commons of public space. Faster response can be useful, but a rapid, lightly governed buildout of automated aerial surveillance changes who is watched and how routinely, often without the person on the ground knowing. Ubiquitous overhead monitoring gates freedom of movement rather than expanding it.
Worth watching: how many waiver-holders actually launch programs, and whether oversight rules like California's AB 481, which requires advance notice and annual usage reports, spread. The reporting comes from EFF, a privacy advocacy group, and the Chula Vista breakdown is from one city.
Source: EFF Deeplinks