Police agencies across the National Capital Region (NCR) say that drone-as-first-responder (DFR) programs and counter-UAS operations (c-UAS) have become part of everyday law enforcement infrastructure. Speaking at Carahsoft’s inaugural Drones in Public Sector Day, panelists from Fairfax County Police Department, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and Skydio described how several recent large-scale security events forced dozens of agencies to coordinate airspace management at a scale the public safety community had never attempted before.
Dr. Trent Teyema, Executive Director of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), a non-profit that tracks drone and counter-drone policy across the state bureaus of investigation nationwide, moderated the panel. He framed the discussion around lessons learned from the FIFA World Cup and America 250 security operations.
Airspace Security Now Part of Routine Public Safety Ops
Sergeant Ryan Quarto, who leads the DFR program for Fairfax County Police Department, said the planning process for FIFA and America 250 revealed how far public sector drone programs have advanced. He described sitting through numerous coordination meetings involving drone operators, c-UAS teams and federal partners including the FBI. That experience convinced him that airspace security now belongs squarely within the public safety mission.
Second Lieutenant Brad Woehrlen, who oversees UAS program standards and c-UAS development for Fairfax County, agreed but highlighted some areas for improvement. The events exposed real gaps in how neighboring and federal agencies shared detection data. Woehrlen said the region moved quickly to federate that information among partners once the need became obvious, but stressed the coordination came together out of necessity rather than advance planning.
Deputy Chief Timothy Tyler of the MWAA, who oversees patrol and security operations for Reagan National and Dulles International airports, said FIFA marked a turning point. Drones and counter-drone systems have exited the experimental phase and become permanent fixtures of public safety operations. Tyler said the scale of FIFA, with multiple venues, jurisdictions, and agencies all sharing responsibility, forced federal, state, and local partners to align quickly. He argued that detection alone means little without identification, threat assessment, investigation and the legal authority to act. Agencies are now shifting from basic drone awareness toward integrated airspace management as a routine part of daily operations, rather than a special posture reserved for major events.
Phil Gonshak, director of public safety strategic initiatives at Skydio and a retired police chief who previously led strategy for the Denver Police Department, offered an industry perspective grounded in decades of frontline experience. He recalled experimenting with early DJI Phantom drones in SWAT operations back in 2013, well before current FAA rules existed. Gonshak said FIFA required running Skydio’s DFR technology across 39 straight days and 16 interoperable agencies spanning three countries. The operation proved that drones can fly around the clock, but it also revealed that many agencies receive equipment without a clear deployment plan. He believes that helping departments integrate new drone technology into daily operations has become the industry’s next major challenge.
Inside a DFR Call
Quarto walked through how Fairfax County’s DFR program actually works from the moment a 911 call comes in. The program operates out of the department’s real-time crime center, which also monitors roughly 25,000 camera feeds from schools, government buildings and private property. When a call arrives, an AI platform called Prepared 911 transcribes the conversation in real time and helps the call taker capture details accurately.
That same platform feeds directly into the drone software. The system plots the caller’s GPS location on a map within seconds, before the call taker has even finished entering the report. A drone pilot watching that map sees a pin appear with a countdown timer, then watches as AI categorizes the likely nature of the call. The pilot decides whether the situation meets the criteria under Virginia code for launching a drone. If it does, a single click triggers a docked drone to launch and fly autonomously to the scene. Once the aircraft arrives, the pilot takes manual control and streams live video to responding officers, often putting eyes on a scene well before patrol units arrive.
Woehrlen added that this operational capability rests on a foundation most people never see. Building a sustainable DFR program requires securing renewable funding, training pilots well beyond the FAA’s Part 107 minimum, and running a program much like a flight school. Fairfax County maintains detailed maintenance records for every drone and has already been audited twice by accreditation bodies that demanded proof of who serviced each aircraft and when. Woehrlen said agencies too often assume drone programs face lighter oversight than helicopter units, when in practice they are held to comparable safety and documentation standards.
Sustaining Programs Beyond the Launch Phase
Gonshak, drawing on his transition from police chief to industry executive, said sustainable programs start with getting officers comfortable with basic equipment quickly. He described the entry point as simple: a screen, a controller and a willingness to start flying. Once officers see how easily and inexpensively a DFR operation can begin, momentum builds naturally. He credited Skydio’s strong customer support access as a key factor in helping agencies stay engaged with their programs long after initial deployment.
Tyler explained how drones deliver outsized value at airports, where perimeter security spans enormous ground. Dulles International Airport covers roughly 12,000 to 13,000 acres compared to Reagan National’s 860 acres. This makes aerial coverage essential for patrolling heavily wooded perimeter areas along major roadways. Tyler said his airport authority has requested Fairfax County drone support during perimeter breaches when officers needed to locate individuals across terrain too large to search on foot. Airport teams also use tethered drones for large public events and rely on aerial inspection to examine facilities, including a new terminal opening later this month, without requiring workers to climb structures or dispatch a helicopter.
Woehrlen described the close coordination required whenever Fairfax County drones support MWAA operations near restricted airspace. He pointed to the FAA’s System Operations Support Center as the key coordinating body for airspace clearance near airports. He described an incident where his team documented a fatal collision near Dulles while simultaneously coordinating with airport authorities and managing traffic control to prevent secondary crashes. Communication with partner agencies, he said, remains the deciding factor in operating safely as an aviation asset.
Turning Data Into Decisions Without Overload
Quarto and Woehrlen both addressed how agencies avoid drowning in information once drones, radar, and camera networks all feed a common operational picture. Woehrlen said the answer lies in trained analysts who can interpret weather data, radar feeds and automatic dependent surveillance broadcast traffic simultaneously, since threats do not always appear on standard aircraft tracking systems.
Quarto said Fairfax County learned that not everyone needs every piece of information. Drone pilots need aviation and weather details, officers on the ground need to know where the threat is located and commanders need the broader scene picture. He said the goal is routing the right information to the right person quickly, rather than filling every screen with every data stream, which ultimately changes how police departments respond to incidents.
Tyler detailed how his airport authority now handles unidentified drone sightings following passage of the SAFER Skies Act and a December amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which expanded detection and mitigation authority at airports. Federal Air Marshals now notify airport public safety communications when a drone appears, triggering officer dispatch and coordination with the Unmanned Coordination Unit at the National Capital Region Coordination Center. Tyler said an incident in 2022, when a drone entered restricted airspace and forced a ten to fifteen minute ground stop at Reagan National, proved that having a plan on paper differs from executing it under pressure.
Gonshak said distinguishing an authorized law enforcement drone from an unknown or hostile one remains one of the industry’s biggest unsolved problems, since no reliable system yet confirms which agency operates a given aircraft in real time. Woehrlen added that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments used America 250 grant funding to build a shared regional operational picture, giving trained analysts across NCR agencies visibility into airspace activity. He noted that state and local agencies remain limited in what action they can take against a drone committing only a federal airspace violation without an accompanying state law violation or imminent threat.
Communication Remains the Common Thread
Each panelist closed with a single piece of advice for agencies building integrated drone and counter-drone programs.
- Quarto emphasized establishing one common operating picture and holding coordination meetings with neighboring agencies before an incident occurs.
- Woehrlen echoed the call for shared situational awareness and cautioned that counter-UAS responses must never create a second emergency in the airspace while responding to one on the ground.
- Tyler summarized his advice in three words: communication, collaboration, and coordination.
- Gonshak urged agencies to write detailed, unambiguous policies rather than vague guidelines open to inconsistent interpretation.
Gonshak also said the most critical step beyond policy is preparing communities for what drone programs actually do, engaging residents early so they understand the technology their police department is deploying rather than fearing it. That transparency, he said, will determine whether the public trusts DFR programs as they expand nationwide.
The technology has already proven it can fly. What remains unproven, every panelist also agreed, is whether agencies can build the trust, training and coordination to fly it responsibly at scale.