(draft) Drones in Public Safety: Inside Arlington County Fire & Police UAS Ops

Rescheduling at guest speakers request. Final date forthcoming. 9/29 is cancelled.

Please join us for an in-person event with Arlington County’s public-safety outreach leads.
Captain Hiner — from the Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD) — is joining us in person, and he’ll bring an Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) counterpart. Together they’ll share how first responders actually fly in the DC region’s restricted airspace: structure fires, hazmat, search and rescue, coordination with the FAA and airport towers, and how privacy and pilot-in-command standards shape every mission.
This is the talk about how it works on the ground in Arlington.
📍 LOCATION
Arlington County Central Library (Quincy)
🎙 WHAT WE’LL COVER
Real-world missions & tactics — structure fires, hazmat, and SAR across the county
Flying in critical airspace — SFRA / FRZ realities, FAA + tower coordination for ops and training
RPIC + visual observer crew model — why ACFD keeps a human PIC focus (no unmonitored fully autonomous flight) and how they protect against collecting PII / HIPAA data
Open Q&A with ACFD and ACPD — ask the hard questions
📋 AGENDA
5:45 - 6:00 Meet and Greet
6:00 – 6:10 Welcome, intros & group announcements
6:10 – 6:50 Presentation: ACFD UAS + ACPD public-safety perspective
6:50 – 7:30 Q&A and networking
👥 WHO SHOULD COME
Robotics / aerospace / policy people curious about urban UAS
Anyone who wants to understand how drones save lives next door to the National Mall
Public safety, emergency management, and Arlington CERT folks

✅ Free to attend · RSVP required (room is limited)
Bring questions. Optional: business cards if you want to connect after.