Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office tests new drone program, but one factor could pose a challenge

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office announced it's testing the "Drones as First Responders" program, but the location of the sheriff's office headquarters could cause an issue.

The program aims to improve law enforcement response, with drones that provide better views of a scene faster than officers could otherwise.

In July, Denver7 shared when Commerce City was the first to implement the program in the state. Officers in Commerce City said it saves resources and helps keep the public and officers safe.

For Arapahoe County, the sheriff's office headquarters and the Centennial Airport are just a few miles apart, which could pose a problem when flying the drones to respond to those emergencies.

“It does present a unique challenge, especially because the sheriff's office headquarters is very close to the airport,” Noise and Environmental Specialist for the Centennial Airport Zach Gabehart said. “Working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airport, the appropriate permission can be received, but obviously we have to make sure that the drones are integrating, you know, safely with the airport and the National Airspace System and making sure that there there's no hazard being posed to fixed wing aircraft that are arriving and departing to the airport.”

Staff with the Centennial Airport said it's the fourth busiest general aviation airport in the country, with a total of 340,411 operations — aircraft taking off and landing — in 2024.

The airport serves everything from air ambulances to military, flight schools and aerospace research.

“If there's things we can do to support, you know, the the mission of the Sheriff's Office, we're happy to do that to make sure that that their operating envelope is as big as it can be, while, you know, not having a safety or an adverse impact on the airport or their drone operation,” Gabehart emphasized.

Since program details are limited right now, Centennial Airport can't identify any potential or significant issues with the airport traffic and the drones yet, but the airport said flying drones always comes with a risk.

“There's always a risk of a drone being operated improperly that could pose, you know, a hazard to fixed wing aircraft or helicopters or or manned aircraft that are utilizing airspace,” Gabehart said. “I think the FAA has a pretty detailed set of guidelines that has prevented a lot of those things from occurring, provided that the drone operators are operating within those bounds. But there is certainly, you know, always a risk of a drone interfering with manned aircraft.”

The airport does already have two drones used for “environmental compliance” and instances of trespassing.

“We also use it to do precision mapping at the airport for various pavement projects and things like that,” Gabehart added.

Any issues the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office may face with the launch of the program are still under evaluation as it continue to test the program for the next month.

The sheriff’s office said if it does decide to move forward with the program, it will be able to provide more details on the cost of the program, how it works and what the community can expect.

For Commerce City, its program cost came out to about $150,000 a year, the police department shared with Denver7 in in July.

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