Albuquerque Police Department pioneers DFR with Skydio DFR
In Albuquerque, where rising crime and officer shortages strain resources, the police department has found a force multiplier in drone and dock technology. With half a million service calls a year and over 1,000 sworn officers covering 187 square miles, the department relies on Skydio drones and docks to deliver real-time intelligence and safer responses to the field.
Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is proud to have been the first agency in New Mexico to launch a drone program with rooftop “hives” that deploy drones across the city in 90 seconds or less. In just one month, the program has completed more than 200 flights and already assisted in four arrests—proof that Drone as First Responder (DFR) can close the gap between stretched resources and urgent response.
What began as a tactical tool has evolved into a citywide capability. Drones are now deployed daily across divisions, from patrol to traffic, and are at the center of APD’s expansion into a DFR program powered by Skydio Dock for X10. Skydio’s training and dock integration have enabled officers to pilot drones remotely, capture critical situational data, and make faster, smarter decisions on every call.
One recent deployment highlighted the impact. After an officer-involved shooting, a Skydio drone launched from a dock located the armed suspect hiding in a yard, allowing officers to tighten the perimeter, reduce disruption to the neighborhood, and safely bring the suspect into custody.
Leaders see DFR and dock-based operations as the future of public safety. With autonomous drones launching from docks and rooftop hives across the city, officers gain immediate eyes on a scene, even miles away. APD believes this technology will soon be essential, redefining how police respond, protect their communities, and ensure safer outcomes for everyone involved.
- [drone buzzing]
- Officers having the ability to pilot a drone and use a
- drone in their day-to-day operations is
- phenomenal.
- [upbeat music] Crime is an issue in the city of Albuquerque,
- and every city right now is facing a shortage of officers.
- We get approximately half a million calls for service a year, and
- with a drone program, we are now deploying this technology
- and putting it in the hands of the officers and providing them that real-time
- information and creating a safer and a smarter response.
- [siren blaring]
- [upbeat music]
- The Albuquerque Police Department is the largest police department in New
- Mexico.
- We are at about 1,000 sworn and have jurisdiction over about
- 187 square miles.
- We've had a drone program for several years now, and we
- deploy them on pretty much a daily basis.
- Our drone started off in the tactical division.
- As we expanded out our drone program, it became used more
- in the field by patrol officers. We now use it in the traffic
- division, and we are moving to a drone as a first
- responder
- program.
- The training we're getting right now is through Skydio,
- and we're participating in more of a familiarization with the system
- itself so we can go ahead and train and educate some of our employees and
- staff. The vision is to ensure that we can have adequate
- coverage in areas that probably don't get enough routine
- patrols,
- respond to calls for service, make sure that we can get information out
- to
- the field officers, and make sound decisions.
- We did have one drone deployment this weekend.
- We had an officer that was, uh, shot at by an occupant of another
- vehicle. The suspect then fled that location and hid
- in a yard. We were able to locate that individual through use
- of the drone. It also enabled us to shrink down a
- perimeter and have less inconvenience to that community,
- and it kept the officers, the community, and the suspect safe because
- we were able to come up with a plan to safely approach and get him into custody.
- [upbeat music]
- My hope would be to continue with the DFR
- program and employ these drones in a manner
- where the public is safer. The drones provide
- us an opportunity to respond to all areas of the city in a
- timely manner, and it acts as a force multiplier.
- If we can send a drone across town to get to a location where
- we don't necessarily have a lot of officers, that expedites a
- response. That expedites the officer's ability to
- get that information
- prior to arrival, and it enables us to be able to see
- what's going on.
- I think that it increases their safety, and I think drones are
- the wave of the future. Uh, they will be essential
- to departments like the Albuquerque Police Department, and I think it
- is going to become something that we are going to go back and wonder
- how we operated without this technology.
- [upbeat music]
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