Drone Response: Aerial Tactics for Campus Threat Management

As threats to college and university campuses continue to evolve, public safety professionals must adopt innovative tools to enhance situational awareness, response capabilities, and prevention strategies. This two-hour course provides a comprehensive overview to the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, in campus public safety operations.

Participants will explore how drone technology can be leveraged to proactively identify risks, monitor large-scale events and protests, support emergency response, and enhance overall threat mitigation efforts. The course highlights real-world applications in higher education environments, including active threat incidents, missing persons searches, perimeter security, and disaster response.

Key topics include operational planning, legal and regulatory considerations (including FAA compliance), privacy and ethical concerns, and integration with existing campus safety frameworks such as behavioral threat assessment teams and emergency operations plans. Attendees will also gain insight into best practices for deploying drones safely and effectively while maintaining public trust.