Virginia State Police Recognized by the Virginia Public Safety Innovation Center

WILLIAMSBURG  –  On March 11, 2025, Virginia State Police was recognized by the Virginia Public Safety Innovation Center with an award presented at the DroneResponders National Public Safety UAS Conference, taking place at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va.   The award recognizes Virginia State Police’s efforts in assisting the Virginia Public Safety Innovation Center with researching, developing and testing out new technology for law enforcement.

Recently, Virginia State Police participated in a low-mid level airspace awareness project with the Virginia Public Safety Innovation Center utilizing unmanned aerial system detection technology to get a snapshot of what the Low-Mid Level airspace across the Commonwealth looked like.  This was a first of its kind project to quantify what the airspace looks like in a state and what effects the mass proliferation of unmanned aerial systems into the National Airspace is having on airspace safety & congestion.  This data is vital for our State & Congressional leaders as they develop legislative strategies to deal with this emerging technology and potential threats it could pose to traditional manned aviation.

The DroneResponders National Public Safety UAS Conference is the largest Public Safety drone conference in the world.  The conference, which took place this week, draws attendees from multiple countries as well as multiple parts of the United States. DroneResponders is a non-profit program created to unite aerial first responders, emergency managers, and search and rescue specialists under a unified organization to help learn, train, and test with one another with the ultimate objective of maximizing drone operations for public safety.