There's a reason we made sure our DFR response speed is nearly twice as fast as everyone else. There are no "code 3" rules in the sky, and as Tom Cruise says in Top Gun, "I feel the need... the need for speed."

As Fritz Reber, the innovator behind DFR, often states, "There are only three principles of DFR that truly matter: Get there, get there fast, and see things."

Focusing on that second point—getting there fast—is vital because response time dictates DFR's effectiveness. How useful is a drone that arrives after the suspect is gone, misses the critical window for an ALPR hit, or shows up only after patrol has managed the situation? Its value hinges on being the first responder, just as the name implies.

For several of our partner agencies, their entire DFR strategy is built around achieving maximum response speed. Take Alhambra Police Department – their DFR team boasts an average response time of just 78 seconds. So, how does a department like Alhambra manage to get their DFR drone on scene that fast?

Their success hinges on mastering four critical elements: deciding quickly, launching quickly, flying quickly, and zooming far.

Decide to launch quickly and know where to go.

You're already at a disadvantage if your DFR operation begins only when the radio call goes out or the CAD event appears. Consider this: approximately 90 seconds usually elapse between the moment a 911 call is received and when a dispatcher sends units. Closing that gap offers your greatest opportunity to expedite DFR response times.

Flock Aerodome tackles this head-on. We feed real-time 911 call transcripts directly into your flight operations screen as the calls occur. Not only do you receive the live transcript, but you also see the precise, real-time location of the caller's device. This capability is seamlessly integrated due to our ecosystem partnership with Prepared.

Tools that provide immediate intelligence, such as the Flock 911 integration within Aerodome, can effectively eliminate the initial 90-second dispatch delay, significantly reducing your DFR response times.

Stay in the “high ready” to launch fast.

To ensure the fastest launch, aim to keep your drone in the "high ready" state during normal weather conditions. This simply means it's sitting exposed on the launch pad, locked onto GPS, and ready to fly instantly. For our system, high ready translates to airborne in under 3 seconds from the moment you hit the launch button.

When extreme weather forces you to use the "low ready" state (usually involving sheltering the drone), anticipate a slight delay. With our system, this adds only about 10-15 seconds. However, for other providers, the same action can result in a delay of anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes before the drone can even take off.

The key takeaway? Keep that drone in a high-ready state whenever conditions allow. If battery longevity is a potential issue holding you back, make sure your DFR service contract includes proactive battery replacement – maintaining readiness should be part of the service you pay for.

Fly “code 3” speeds to every call.

Unlike driving with lights and sirens, increasing drone speed does not pose the same public safety risks as speeding on the road. Since response time is everything in DFR, we design our systems – whether our NDAA-compliant drones or others – to operate at their maximum potential speed. Our slowest drones fly at 51 mph, and we're pushing towards 100 mph with models currently in development.

Crucially, these aren't theoretical 'sport mode' speeds that you seldom attain. These are your everyday, mission-ready operational speeds. We want you flying full throttle to every call. If that means we're replacing batteries and propellers more frequently because you're maximizing speed, that’s accounted for in our service model. That's how it's supposed to work.

Now, contrast that with competitors. Some might advertise a drone "capable" of 45mph but then cap its actual operational speed at 25mph through software limits. That kind of throttling means their drone takes twice as long to reach the scene as one that flies consistently at its true top speed.

Get on scene from far away.

For drone operations, effective response isn't measured merely by the moment the drone arrives overhead, but rather by when you establish visual contact with the scene. Quickly getting eyes on the situation is crucial, which underscores the importance of long-range camera zoom.

This is why we equip our drones with powerful 400x zoom cameras. This enables your operators to lock onto and assess scenes from over a mile away while the drone continues flying at full speed toward the location. You effectively arrive visually, seeing crucial details long before drones hindered by limited zoom capabilities even get close.

It’s time to get serious about speed. Choose a DFR platform that gets you on scene nearly twice as fast as everyone else.