The strategically placed drones will be able to launch and travel to the scene of an incident in as little as 90 seconds – quickly giving a “live-time” view of what’s happening so resources can be effectively deployed.
The Drone as First Responder (DFR) initiative – launched six months ago – will see drones stationed in weatherproof boxes at locations across the force area, which can be launched and piloted remotely from Cleveland Police’s control room.
A spokesperson said: “This is part of a national programme launched by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to help use drone technology to support community and officer safety. Drone pilots can use DFR to follow or locate a suspect, direct officers on the ground to find and intercept them and to quickly respond to reports of vulnerable missing people – getting an almost instant aerial view to aid their location.”
In the six months between January and June 2026, there were 690 DFR flights in total, with the drone assisting in locating 34 missing people, 45 suspects and 64 vehicles. With over 170 hours of flying time, the DFR was the first on scene 477 times and at 67 incidents there was no deployment of the officers required on the ground due to DFR assistance.
DFR adds additional capacity to Cleveland Police’s fleet of “business as usual” drones, which were deployed 2,185 times during 2025. There are 59 pilots trained across the Force, who can deploy drones to incidents including searching for missing people or tracking illegal off-road bikes.
Superintendent Paul Richardson said: “DFR is an invaluable tool in helping us to deploy our resources and improve the effectiveness of incident response. We have seen throughout the last six months that, as early adopters of the DFR concept, the benefits to having the DFR to add to our ‘business as usual’ drones are countless. The stats speak for themselves, and it can only be good news that we have expanded into five sites, covering the whole of Cleveland.”
In June, after a proactive drugs warrant was carried out at an address in Hartlepool, the DFR operator who was overseeing the warrant noticed packages being thrown into a garden next door. Officers were guided to the packages and suspected drugs were located. A 60-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman remain on police bail in connection with drugs offences.
