The proposed model

How the partnership would work

The county owns and operates; the host business provides the place. An authorized public-safety operator decides every launch. The host and, possibly, its customers could receive a limited read-only camera view if county policy permits, and law-enforcement missions always take priority.

Under the revised plan the first pilot can begin as a private-facility Part 107 operation: who owns the first aircraft, who insures it, and how responders get access are open questions to settle with the owner and the county, not settled facts. ?Open question The division below describes the fuller county-operated model that the later phases would grow into. ▸Proposal

The public agency

The Sheriff's Office or another eligible Pueblo County public-safety entity would: ▸Proposal

• apply for and administer the grant;
• own or formally lease the aircraft as the chosen operating framework requires;
• designate the county's responsible official;
• hold the FAA operational authority and airspace authorizations;
• select, train, and supervise pilots;
• decide whether and when to launch;
• maintain flight, maintenance, incident, and training records;
• set mission priorities and suspend host access whenever public-safety operations require it;
• adopt privacy, civil-liberties, retention, evidence, cybersecurity, and public-records policies; and
• publish program results.

The host business

The host would be asked to consider providing: ▸Proposal

• a secure portion of the property for the aircraft enclosure and landing area;
• electricity;
• wired internet, plus permission for redundant connectivity equipment;
• reasonable physical access for county pilots, maintainers, and inspectors;
• coordination with the site's existing cameras, alarms, and gate systems where mutually useful;
• site-specific incident knowledge and feedback; and
• possibly cash or in-kind support for costs the grant does not cover.

Camera access: viewing, never piloting

When the aircraft is airborne for an authorized facility-security purpose, the county could allow the host a read-only live view; selected tenants could receive limited views of a specific incident. The county could disable private viewing instantly whenever a mission changes to law enforcement, search and rescue, or another sensitive use. ▸Proposal

The technical design would separate three streams: ▸Proposal

1. Pilot/control stream: full-quality, low-latency, available only to authorized public-safety personnel.
2. Law-enforcement/evidence stream: recorded and logged under county policy, with evidentiary and access controls.
3. Host/customer view: read-only, delayed or reduced-quality if necessary, with no telemetry, no aircraft command, and no access to unrelated missions.

For continuous facility surveillance while the drone is not flying, the host would keep using ordinary fixed cameras, which cover multiple angles at once without consuming flight hours. ▸Proposal

Who could fly it

Four modes, in the order they would arrive: ▸Proposal

1. The owner or a trained facility employee, holding their own Part 107 certificate, flies routine facility patrols in visual line of sight. The simplest case, possible today.
2. A trainee under direct supervision of a certificated pilot who can take control immediately; useful for training, not the long-term model. Regular independent pilots simply earn the certificate.
3. A certified public-safety responder on scene assumes the pilot role and flies the pre-positioned aircraft, subject to agency policy, owner authorization, insurance, and access arrangements. The responder does not need to have carried the drone; it is already charged and ready at a known site.
4. A remote county pilot with nobody on site: the future mode, requiring BVLOS authority; see FAA and operations.

The volunteer researcher

The research and paperwork behind this site come from a volunteer. The volunteer is not, and will not be, the responsible person, waiver holder, pilot in command, or operational decision-maker; those roles belong to county personnel. ▸Proposal

Recognition for participating businesses

If the county approves the program and its communications policy, participating sites could be identified in press releases or a partner page, as "participating host site in a county public-safety pilot". Public material would avoid promising that property cannot be stolen or that a drone is always available. ▸Proposal

Published August 24, 2026 at 00:38 UTC. Last updated August 24, 2026 at 01:30 UTC. Times come from this page's revision history and can be checked against it.