No Budget, All Guts: Building a Drone Program with Borrowed Cash and a Prayer with David Spraggs
In Part 1 of this special two-part DroneCast conversation, host Joe Kearns III sits down with David Spraggs, former bomb squad commander and current Manager of Customer Success at DroneSense, to explore his pioneering work bringing drones into law enforcement. From his first exposure to a $150,000 UAS in 2014 to building Boulder PD’s drone program from the ground up, David reveals how drones moved from “nice-to-have gadgets” to mission-critical tools in public safety. He shares lessons on community trust, funding, documentation, and cross-agency collaboration that remain essential for agencies building or scaling their own programs today. Stay tuned for Part 2, where David continues his journey and dives deeper into advanced applications and lessons learned.
What You’ll Learn:
– How early adoption of drones transformed responses to hazmat, bomb squad, and search-and-rescue incidents
– Why community trust and transparency are foundational to a sustainable police drone program
– The critical role of documentation, accountability, and data management in program success
– Strategies to overcome resistance, budget constraints, and skepticism when launching a program
– The value of cross-agency collaboration and knowledge sharing for growth and resilience
Helpful Links:
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Drones as First Responder (DFR)
Public Safety Drones
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Drone Technology in Law Enforcement
Search and Rescue Drones
Drone Program Development
Tactical Drone Operations
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS)
DroneSense Platform
Community Trust and Transparency
Incident Command and Situational Awareness
Thermal Imaging Drones
Drone Program Funding and Grants
Cross-Agency Collaboration
Drone Policy and Regulation
Drone Training and Certification
Data-Driven Accountability
Innovation in Public Safety
UAS Program Leadership
Drones for Good
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