Arizona Drone Demo Days feature emerging technologies to support safety
Mesa (April 21, 2025) — They can dive to the bottom of a lake during a search and rescue mission. They can survey miles of terrain to inspect road safety or find unmarked abandoned mines. They can inspect water and gas pipelines. They can walk up stairs and into dangerous environments to assess situations before humans are sent in.
Drone technology is being used in innovative ways in Arizona state government and beyond. That’s why Arizona agencies and members of the Arizona Cooperative Program – a group of more than 1,100 municipalities, nonprofits and government organizations that have access to the competitive pricing and vetting of state contracts – were invited to the inaugural Arizona Drone Demo Days events to see aerial, aquatic and ground-based drones from vendors selected through recent procurement for state work.
The event was hosted by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Department of Administration, in collaboration with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, at Salt River Tubing and at Saguaro Lake on April 16 and 17.
Sgt. Eric Andrews, public information supervisor for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said that in addition to being cost efficient and time efficient, especially in cases where a helicopter would have been used, drone tools can be life saving in emergency situations.
“Seeing the distance that we can do surveillance on a situation or that we can do search and rescue operations where you might not even be able to see the drone but they have a perfect shot of that suspect or of that missing person and they’re able to notify people exactly where that person is, it’s fascinating to see. Especially as a former detective myself, I’ve utilized drones myself on cases and it’s been fantastic to have that resource available,” he said.
The more than 1,100 members of the Arizona Cooperative Program include all Arizona state agencies and many local nonprofits and organizations, in addition to out-of-state entities such as the city of Albuquerque, the city of Seattle and LAX Airport. Salt River Project is also a member; SRP’s drone operators say they use the technology for land surveying, dam work, inspecting solar panels and more.
“By integrating drones, including submersibles, into SRP operations, we greatly improve efficiency and more importantly safety,” said Mark Wegele, senior manager of SRP Flight Services. “These drones supplement manned aircraft, serving as an additional problem-solving tool in our toolbox to ensure reliable water and power for SRP's customers.”
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality employees said they use drones for abandoned mine cleanup, pipeline inspection, invasive species monitoring, emergency response to flash floods and a recent train derailment, and more.
“At ADEQ, we use drone technology to safely and efficiently gather data that supports a wide range of agency activities from mine and watershed remediation to environmental monitoring in remote or hard-to-reach areas,” said Brandon McIver, chief data analytics officer for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. “Our certified drone pilots use rotary and fixed-wing drones and tools like thermal cameras to improve situational awareness, enhance field and public safety, and deliver high-quality data that drives better decisions for Arizona’s environment.”
All of the vendors present at Arizona Drone Demo Days were approved to be available for statewide contract use under Drones, Remotely Operated Devices, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Related Goods and Services. This statewide contract makes it easier for agencies and co-op members to access innovative technologies available for public service work that is hazardous or inaccessible.
The Cooperative Program benefits members, vendors and Arizona taxpayers, said Michael Hillebrand, a manager in the State Procurement Office. Co-op members pool their buying power to get more affordable products; members who may not have robust procurement resources know these vendors and products have been vetted for quality by the Arizona State Procurement Office. At the same time, vendors save resources by completing one request for proposals process to be connected with thousands of potential customers.
“The Arizona State Procurement Office does a lot of that behind-the-scenes work that is invisible to the average Arizona citizen, and there's a lot of hard work that goes behind on the process with not only the request for proposals process but all the vetting going on making sure we’re bringing in good, quality companies with great products and great services to be able to provide the best to citizens of Arizona,” Hillebrand said.
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Contact: Timothy Tait, ADOA
602-826-5406