On April 9, 2025, the Everett City Council approved a bold new initiative in a 5-1 vote: The implementation of cutting-edge AI-powered drones as first responders for the Everett Police Department.
What if these new drones could take off at the police station, without much human control, and respond to crime scenes in a fraction of the time? With the new Flock Aerodomes, it’s now possible. In fact, these drones are a part of a new Drones as First Response (DFR) program that Everett PD is eager to implement. They are unlike those used before — and they’re elevating the game.
Everett Police officers have been using drones since 2022 for the sake of visibility and safety.
According to Everett Officer Robert Goetz, the current drones are stored in the back of police vehicles. In a given situation, officers arrive at the scene of the crime, get out the vehicle and calibrate the drone before it takes off — taking valuable time away from a first response.
By using drones as first responders, Everett PD hopes response times will be cut from a four minute average to only 90 seconds, Goetz expressed in the City Council meeting on April 9. The drones would also respond in low-stakes situations, such as stalled vehicles, giving officers a better idea of what situation they are walking into.
Two drones will be utilized for Everett police dispatch, one operating on the north side, and one on the south side. While having AI capabilities, Officer Goetz stressed that the Aerodomes will be fully piloted by humans once they reach the scene, and they are always montoried by trained human pilots. These drones will be able to fly 3.7 miles away from their landing dock, flying at speeds up to 55 miles per hour.
The drone covering North Everett would also respond to incidents on EvCC’s campus, Robert Goetz said in an interview with EvCC’s Clipper.
“Let’s say someone reports a burglary on campus, the pilots (trained Everett Police officers) click with a mouse on the call that will send the drone out in 40 seconds, and the response will be around 90 seconds or so,” Goetz said. “When we click on a call, the drone will fly to the location and the pilot will control the camera and drone on the scene.”
The first Aerodome covering North Everett comes at no cost for its first year of operation and testing, while the second drone will cost 30,000 dollars for the first year. After that, each drone will around annually cost $300,000 per drone.
But what questions did EvCC students have to ask in response to this recent development in policing?
Concerns regarding privacy, especially with the current political climate under the Trump administration, are a big concern with students.
“I know a lot of companies are shifting to AI,” Terece Lewis, an EvCC STEM club member and student at AMTEC said, “But at one point are we sacrificing our privacy for technology?”
The question of privacy and civil liberties also came up during the same City Council meeting on April 9, when Council Member Liz Vogeli asked about the civil rights protections of individuals in the community and the drones potential infringement on them.
In response, Goetz confirmed that the Flock Aerodomes will not be used for routine policing, for immigrant identification, for observation of first amendment activities, and they will not have facial recognition. He also stated that the drones cameras will not be pointed downwards towards the street while flying to the destination of the crime.
“All of our video collected is … treated the same as our worn body camera video …we will follow both our police and state law as it relates to any retention of evidence … any non-evidentiary video will be deleted.” Goetz said.
Another concern students had was the cost.
“I feel like $300,000 is really expensive per year,” EvCC STEM club member Stuart Andrews said. Many STEM club members also agreed with this sentiment, questioning why it would cost so much.
Everett City Council Member Liz Vogeli expressed the same concerns about the expenses. “I know you guys are looking to secure funding for year two … but what happens if funding isn’t secured … where is it going to be coming from?” Vogeli said.
Goetz responded that they were actively working on funding, referencing their previous successes in securing grant funding for another project. Everett PD is in the process of submitting applications to various grants, and stated they would opt out if they could not secure funding.
More information, such as the official DFR Flock safety information can be found on the everettwa.gov website. In addition, Everett PD is offering informational presentations to neighborhood groups. A presentation could be done at EvCC if students and staff would be interested in hearing more. Towards the end of June, Goetz also stated people would be able to come and tour the Aerodome facilities and see how the drones would work.
“The ultimate purpose is to improve community safety and response times,” Goetz said.
While this is still a pilot project
