The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is testing drones as first responders, a program that is gaining traction among law enforcement agencies in the Denver metro area. 

Testing for the program in Arapahoe County started Tuesday and will continue in Centennial for the next month, sheriff’s officials said in a social media post Tuesday. 

An Arapahoe County spokesperson said they can’t say what the program will cost until they decide whether or not they will move forward with it.

The Drones as First Responders program, used widely nationwide and trickling into Colorado, is meant to help law enforcement officers get eyes on a scene before sending people in, the social media post said. Aerial views can help officers evaluate a situation to determine necessary resources and drones can arrive at a scene much more quickly than patrol units.

Commerce City was one of the first jurisdictions to implement a Drones as First Responders program in the Denver metro area, launching in July.

Commerce City Police Commander Jeremy Jenkins told The Denver Gazette that it has been a valuable tool already. 

While it’s only been operating since July 7, the city’s DFR program has helped officers in many ways stay safe and keep residents safe, Jenkins said.

Two days after launching the DFR program, Commerce City police officers tracked a stolen motorcycle with a drone, catching it with a Flock camera and then following the vehicle to a mobile home park with a drone unbeknownst to the driver, he said.

When officers arrested the suspect, they found that he also had a stolen handgun and distribution-levels of methamphetamine and heroin, he said. 

By using a drone to follow the car, officers avoided engaging in the dangers of a car chase, Jenkins said, adding that car chases are dangerous for everybody on the road as well as officers.

On Thursday, Commerce City police used a drone ahead of a police chase to help officers see possible obstacles and density of traffic ahead, Jenkins said. 

Other DFR uses have included scene size-ups, which can help responders know what resources to send in a situation like a car crash, he said. 

Since the program’s launch, Commerce City police have flown one of their four drones about 200 times, he said.

Commerce City hopes to expand its program as technology develops, Jenkins said, possibly using future payload drones to deliver things like AEDs or Narcan to scenes, he said.  

Jenkins said his team has had calls from other agencies around the metro area asking questions as they work to implement their own.

“We’re really excited to be the first to get a program up and running and I’m really excited to see agencies get this up and running as well,” Jenkins said. 

The Boulder Police Department is also in the midst of a DFR testing process, and Officer Jared Moore said they’ve had big success with response times to calls using drones. 

Boulder police have been working to get a DFR program up and running for years, Moore said, and having Sundance Film Festival come to Boulder was a catalyst for making it happen. 

A big event that fills the city and gridlocks streets would benefit from having drones available to assess emergency situations and help officers determine how best to respond, he said.