In London, a drone reaches a 999 call location alone from Islington

(02)In Islington, the Met's drone takes off from the roof of the police station

greeleyco.gov — Greeley Police Department Launches Drone as First Responder Program to Strengthen Real-Time Response | City of Greeley — source

The Metropolitan Police Service has presented its Drone as First Responder programme, made public on 1 November 2025. The stated aim is for a drone to arrive at the scene of a 999 call before officers. On priority calls — those involving an immediate danger to life, a threat of serious violence, a risk of serious injury or significant property damage — the average arrival time for a patrol is around eight minutes. The programme is aiming for two minutes.

The aircraft is a standard-version DJI Matrice 4TD thermal, stored and recharged in a Dock 3 installed on the roof of Islington police station. When a flight is triggered, the dock's cover retracts and the drone heads directly to the address. Piloting is carried out from a command station inside the police station. The video feed is transmitted to the remote pilot and recorded for evidential purposes; if the recording is not required, it is deleted after 28 days.

This is the first system of its kind in the United Kingdom. It is focused on the London borough of Islington, with expansion planned towards the West End and Hyde Park before the end of 2025. A London-wide rollout is envisaged if the trial is successful.

(03)Calgary deploys two drones for three months

Calgary police have launched a pilot project of the same type, announced on 11 September at 21:26 EDT. For three months, two police-piloted drones will respond to certain calls in the north-east and south-east of the city, before the arrival of first responders, to determine the type of support needed.

Superintendent Jodi Gach explains the aim: to identify risks, determine the resources that might be required and help response teams make informed decisions. Staff Sergeant Ryan Nolan gives the technical parameters. The drones operate within a radius of around 4 kilometres of their base and can reach a call within that area in around 90 seconds from receipt. Endurance is around 20 minutes. It is the pilots, who monitor incoming calls, who decide whether to launch.

Calgary already used drones, but deployed by officers once on scene: road traffic collisions, searches for missing persons, surveillance of large public events. The new programme sends them in advance. In Red Deer, an equivalent programme has been running since 18 June.

(04)Chula Vista passed 25,000 missions in May 2026

The Chula Vista Police Department in California launched its drone-as-first-responder programme in 2018 and passed 25,000 missions in May 2026. Of the 17,170 calls where the drone arrived before patrols, the average response time was around 97 seconds.

Other services have followed. Greeley police launched their own Drone as First Responder programme in 2026. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta is extending drone use to service calls following the Drone as First Responder pilot project conducted in the province.

These figures concern mission volume and response times. No independent evaluation of the Calgary pilot accompanies the announcement, and the effects on arrests or case clearance are not detailed. Urban flight conditions, however, are documented: short radius, brief endurance, launch decision left to an operator listening to calls.

(05)Police flights remain outside the scope of the European regulation

Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 places flights carried out by or on behalf of police, customs, search and rescue and firefighting services in the public interest outside the scope of EASA drone rules. Verified in the Union on 31 May 2026.

For a professional remote pilot, the consequence is direct: the scope of this exclusion depends on the mission and the service benefiting from it. An aircraft identical to the Matrice 4TD assigned to a roof inspection or a topographical survey remains within the scope of the regulation. The case of a private contractor commissioned by a police service is not settled by this provision alone.

The boundary is determined by the service for which the flight is carried out, not by the aircraft's technical specification.