DFR- DRONE AS A FIRST RESPONDER

The City of Naperville Police Department is seeking proposals for a Drone as a First Responder (DFR) solution designed to enhance public safety, improve response times, and provide real-time situational awareness to officers, firefighters, and emergency dispatchers. The DFR program will deploy strategically located, docked unmanned aircraft systems capable of autonomously responding to selected calls for service, delivering live video, thermal imaging, and aerial intelligence to support emergency operations before ground units arrive. The goal of this project is to create a reliable, secure, and scalable operational capability that integrates with the City’s existing public safety technology ecosystem, including computer-aided dispatch (CAD), real-time crime center (RTCC) platforms, and secure public-safety networks. The City is particularly interested in solutions that emphasize automation, resilience, cybersecurity, airspace compliance, privacy protections, and ease of use for sworn personnel, while remaining adaptable to future expansion across the community. Through this solicitation, the City intends to identify a vendor partner with demonstrated experience in public-safety drone operations who can deliver not only the technology, but also the operational support, training, and governance framework required to operate a DFR program in a complex municipal environment. The selected solution must support Naperville’s commitment to innovation, transparency, and responsible use of technology in service to its residents and first responders.