For first responders and law enforcement facing dangerous, uncertain, and complex environments, situational awareness is critical. Public safety agencies today are increasingly turning to small drones - or small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS) - to help them quickly get eyes on a scene ahead of officers, using drones as first responders (DFR) to increase safety and efficiency.
In Florida, the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) has been an early adopter of sUAS: they were the first law enforcement agency in Miami-Dade County to have an sUAS program and they were one of the first police departments in the U.S. to receive and deploy the new Skydio X10 drone. Adding to its existing fleet of Skydio S2+ and X2 drones, MBPD recently deployed five Skydio X10 drones for traffic monitoring, accident reconstruction and overwatch for large-scale public events.
“At the Miami Beach Police Department, keeping the public safe is our number one priority,” said Anthony Loperfido, Sergeant of Police - Technical Operations Unit at Miami Beach Police Department. “We are employing every resource available to us and advanced technology like Skydio’s X10 drone is a critical part of that. These tools allow us to work quickly, more efficiently, and remotely to increase public safety in Miami Beach. While there are immediate applications with incident response, traffic monitoring, and event overwatch, we’re just getting started - the applications are endless for us.”
Miami Beach Police Department has turned to Skydio drones during large-scale public events such as Art Week 2023 and New Year’s Eve to help protect event attendees and keep the community at large safe. It also plans to use its fleet of X10s during Spring Break 2024.
Skydio’s advanced autonomy and obstacle avoidance capabilities, as well as the ability to operate autonomously at night and live stream video to all stakeholders, make it the ideal option for public safety applications. In fact, over 300 public safety agencies in every state across the country are currently using Skydio drones to increase the safety and efficiency of their patrol operations.
The recently announced Skydio X10, which pairs precisely engineered hardware with intelligent software, is the smartest and most adaptable drone on the market today. It delivers new, cutting-edge cameras for data capture, state-of-the-art autonomy, and versatile sensors and payloads to serve a range of industries, including defense and utilities, in addition to public safety. The X10 enables unprecedented AI-powered capabilities such as NightSense, a zero-light navigation feature that enables autonomous flight in the dark.
A lack of information is a worst-case scenario for first responders and the communities they serve. It increases risks to both the public and agency personnel, hampering de-escalation and leading to safety incidents. Skydio is proud to partner with first responders to deliver drone solutions that help them protect their communities effectively and efficiently.
Learn more about Skydio’s solutions for public safety here.
