Published September 9 2026
Expanding its use of unmanned aerial systems, the City of Bellevue is launching a one-year pilot program this fall that will enable patrol officers to quickly deploy UAS to an incident location, either as part of a police response or at the request of the fire department. The drones can collect key information about an incident, including whether a police response is even necessary.
“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.”
“I am relieved to know our crews will have information about the situation they are about to face before they even set the parking brake on scene,” added Fire Chief Dave Tait. “Using UAS in our fire response improves situational awareness, firefighter safety, and operational effectiveness, allowing our incident commanders the ability to see real-time aerial and thermal views of structure fires, wildland fires, hazardous materials incidents, technical rescue incidents, and large-scale emergencies.”
The city has been using UAS since 2021, primarily to assist police officers with large-scale weather damages and traffic collision investigations. An extension of that usage, the Drone as First Responder pilot will include two patrol officers who are trained pilots.
When a call for service comes in that merits a UAS response, an officer will deploy one to quickly analyze the incident location while officers and firefighters are still en route. Video provided by the UAS will help first responders determine what resources they’ll need to effectively, efficiently and safely respond to the call.
The UAS can also show if an emergency response is needed at all, freeing police to focus on other existing calls for service that require an officer’s presence. Redmond police saw an 18.8% drop in officer-initiated responses in 2025 because initial information from the UAS indicated the calls did not actually require an officer.
To protect community members’ privacy, the police and fire UAS 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 UAS operation information.
Skydio, the company Bellevue is using to implement the Drone as First Responder program, offers video use cases including police departments in Redmond and Fort Collins, Colo.
The City Council approved funding for the pilot program Sept. 8, with the Bellevue Police Foundation and Apex Systems also contributing funding. More information about Bellevue's UAS program is availale on the city website at Unmanned Aerial Systems.