BILLINGS — A 911 call comes in. Before a police officer, firefighter or paramedic arrives, a drone launches from a nearby fire station, flies to the scene and begins sending live video back to dispatchers.
It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's a response model already being used in some communities across the country and one Billings leaders hope to bring here.
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The city is exploring a Drone as First Responder program as part of a proposed Real-Time Crime Center inside the Yellowstone County 911 dispatch center.
Yellowstone County Dispatch Manager Justin Jagers said about 30% of dispatched calls are canceled before first responders arrive, meaning drones could help determine whether crews still need to respond, potentially reducing costs, fuel use and wear and tear on emergency vehicles.
Officials are seeking a $1.5 million federal allocation for the drone program through the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed Model Cities Initiative, a competitive grant program that seeks to award nearly $300 million to two to four cities nationwide to expand public safety initiatives and reduce violent crime.
The proposal has not been approved.
Jagers said drones could reach many emergency scenes in about one-and-a-half to two minutes, compared with six to seven minutes for a typical law enforcement response.
"We hear the call come in, it's point, click and fly," Jagers said. "It autonomously flies there."
The drones would send live video back to dispatchers, giving police officers, firefighters and emergency medical crews a better understanding of what they're heading into before they arrive.
Billings leaders are hoping to build out its own Real-Time Crime Center. Already at the Billings dispatch center, police, fire and medical services are monitored in real time, but the hope is to expand.
"It's a giant regional intelligence collaboration to increase the speed in which we could get information out to our first responders and decrease the amount of things our first responders have to respond on," Jagers said.
The Billings Fire Department already uses drones during incidents such as structure fires and river rescues.
The proposed program would expand that capability by allowing drones to launch automatically from docking stations and respond ahead of emergency crews.
While still early in the specifics, City Administrator Kevin Iffland said the drones would likely be stationed at Billings fire stations and launched only in response to 911 calls.
As Drone as First Responder programs expand across the country, so do concerns about privacy.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation says more than 1,000 public safety agencies have received federal approval needed to launch Drone as First Responder programs after the Federal Aviation Administration streamlined the waiver process in 2025.
The civil liberties organization warns the rapid expansion could normalize routine aerial surveillance over neighborhoods and public spaces.
Unlike traditional police drones that are manually deployed to specific incidents, Drone as First Responder programs use automated docking stations that allow drones to launch beyond an operator's line of sight as soon as a 911 call is received.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues the technology could capture video of homes, backyards and people's daily activities, often without residents realizing they are being recorded or understanding how that footage is stored or used.
"We don't want to use it for that," Iffland said, referring to routine surveillance. "We want to use it for the 9-1-1 coming in, dispatching appropriate resources."
Jagers said Billings plans to address those concerns through transparency.
"The program that we want to build will have an online transparency hub."
Other cities have already adopted or are developing similar systems.
The Fremont, California, Fire Department is developing a joint fire and police Drone as First Responder program that launches drones as soon as a 911 call is dispatched.
Deputy Fire Chief Heather Mozdean said the drones provide responders with critical information before police officers or firefighters arrive.
"The benefits are that these drones are another tool to give us information about an emergency," Mozdean said in an email to MTN News. "In the DFR model, this could be valuable information about the scene that can help keep our first responders safe."
Mozdean said developing the program has also brought challenges, including citizen privacy concerns, program costs, Federal Aviation Administration regulations and avoiding conflicts with aircraft during wildland fires.
In addition, Kansas City, Missouri, is among the first to launch a similar program, doing so three years ago. Now, the agency deploys 16 dock-based drones to emergency calls.
Fire Department Battalion Chief Benjamin Schloegel said public trust has been key to the program's success.
"Just another example of where we can use this technology for the betterment of the people who are paying for it," Schloegel said.
If funded, Billings officials said the drones could respond to crimes in progress, missing children, structure fires, active shooter incidents and other emergencies by providing critical information to dispatchers and first responders before crews arrive.
