Fayetteville police expect drones to start answering 911 calls within the first three months of 2027, launching from five stations around the city as part of a technology overhaul that has already stirred debate on the city council. The drones will not patrol neighborhoods or conduct general surveillance, according to the department — they will be dispatched only to specific calls for service, flying ahead of officers to give them a view of a scene before they arrive.
The program, known as Drone as First Responder or DFR, stems from a contract the Fayetteville City Council approved with Axon Enterprise, according to WRAL. The deal bundles body cameras, Tasers and other technology into a single six-year package. Reported figures for the contract differ: The Fayetteville Observer and ABC11 both put the price at $17.3 million over a roughly six-year, 75-month term, while WRAL’s reporting lists the figure at $17.4 million.
Fayetteville Police Chief Roberto Bryan Jr. has called the technology the future, telling ABC11 that bundling the contracts saves $12.6 million for citizens and the community compared with buying the systems separately. The council itself was split on the deal: The Fayetteville Observer reports members voted 6-4 to approve the roughly six-year public safety technology contract.
A Council Member Pushes Back
Not every vote came easily. Fayetteville council member Shaun McMillan expressed concern in September about the amount of power the Axon contract authorizes, per WRAL’s reporting. The department says it will adjust its policies and procedures with transparency in mind as the drone program comes online, and Bryan has said the department plans a forward-facing platform that any citizen can look at and have access to, so they can see how the drones are being utilized — a tool ABC11 reports would show deployments, the purpose of each call, and response times…