A near-miss drone flight over a crowd of 10,000 at Newport’s Fort Adams State Park sparked Rhode Island’s move toward a statewide drone detection strategy. What began as a response to one high-risk incident evolved into a coordinated airspace intelligence program designed to improve visibility, agency coordination, and public safety.
From Limited Visibility to Statewide Airspace Awareness: Rhode Island's Drone Detection Strategy
When a drone descended to just six feet above a crowd of 10,000 attendees during a major event at Newport’s Fort Adams State Park, Rhode Island officials were confronted with a growing reality: drones had become a permanent part of the security landscape.
The incident became a catalyst for action. What began as a response to a single high-risk flight would ultimately evolve into a statewide drone detection and airspace intelligence program, helping Rhode Island public safety agencies gain visibility into low-altitude airspace, improve coordination across agencies, and better protect public events and critical infrastructure.
About RIEMA
The Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA) serves as the state’s central hub for emergency preparedness, response coordination, and operational planning. In a state without county-level government, RIEMA plays a unique role, providing direct support to local communities while coordinating resources and operations across Rhode Island.f
The agency oversees the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), statewide public safety communications systems, critical logistics operations, and security planning for major public events. RIEMA also works closely with the Rhode Island State Fusion Center and a broad network of local, state, and federal partners, including the Rhode Island State Police, FAA, TSA, and FBI, to support public safety and critical infrastructure protection efforts.
From internationally recognized events such as the Newport Jazz and Newport Folk Festivals to critical infrastructure and emergency response operations, RIEMA is responsible for helping ensure the safety, resilience, and preparedness of communities throughout the state.
The Challenge
For RIEMA, the incident at Fort Adams highlighted a much larger operational challenge.
As the state’s lead emergency management agency, RIEMA supports security planning and coordination for some of Rhode Island’s largest public events, including the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival. The agency also works alongside local, state, and federal partners to support critical infrastructure protection across the state.
Over the years, officials had observed increasing drone activity around major events, transportation hubs, waterfront areas, and other sensitive locations. Yet gaining situational awareness of that activity remained difficult.
Monitoring largely depended on visual observation, public reports, and personnel on the ground. When a drone was spotted, responders often had little information about where it originated, who was operating it, or whether the flight posed a legitimate safety concern.
RIEMA had evaluated other drone detection solutions, but many required significant infrastructure, ongoing maintenance, or support for only a limited number of drone manufacturers. The agency needed a solution that could provide actionable intelligence, scale across the state, and operate without creating additional workload for a small team responsible for statewide coordination.
“Before SkySafe, it was all boots on the ground. Someone spotting a drone and hoping to track it down. Now we can see where it launched, how high it went, how long it flew, and where it flew from. It’s completely changed how we approach airspace security.”
Alex Potts
Crisis Information Management Coordinator, RIEMA
Why RIEMA Chose SkySafe
SkySafe’s cloud-based drone detection and airspace intelligence platform provided RIEMA with a practical and scalable approach to monitoring low-altitude airspace.
Ease of use was a major factor in the agency’s decision.
Unlike solutions that required extensive hardware management or constant oversight, SkySafe enabled RIEMA to focus on operations rather than technology administration.
Working against an aggressive timeline ahead of the Newport Jazz Festival, RIEMA partnered with SkySafe to deploy drone detection capabilities around Fort Adams. Within weeks, the agency had real-time visibility into drone activity surrounding one of the state’s largest public events.
The deployment immediately changed how RIEMA approached event security. Rather than reacting after a drone was spotted, officials could monitor activity as it occurred, understand where operators were located, and share intelligence with law enforcement and public safety partners.
From Awareness to Accountability
With SkySafe, RIEMA gained the ability to detect drone activity in real time, review historical flight activity, identify launch locations, and share intelligence across agencies.
RIEMA identified a pilot repeatedly conducting flights far beyond normal operating limits. Historical flight data revealed a pattern of activity, allowing RIEMA to work with state and federal partners to support a broader investigation.
One incident became a turning point.
Another incident, RIEMA detected a drone launched from a paddleboard in Newport Harbor. Using SkySafe’s platform, officials were able to identify the flight, monitor its activity near the venue, and coordinate an educational intervention with responding personnel.
The platform has helped RIEMA establish a more coordinated approach to airspace awareness. Information gathered through SkySafe is routinely shared with the Rhode Island State Police, Fusion Center personnel, FAA representatives, TSA, FBI, and other public safety partners.
“We had a particular individual who flew a drone up to 1,800 feet, dropped it down above a crowd of like 10,000 people, but it was literally six feet above the crowd and right in front of the stage.”
John Washburn
Associate Director of Operations, RIEMA
Building a Statewide Drone Detection and Airspace Intelligence Program
The value of the program quickly extended beyond individual events.
As RIEMA collected more drone activity data, the agency gained a clearer understanding of the scale of activity occurring across Rhode Island’s airspace. Within a single monitoring area, officials documented tens of thousands of drone detections annually, providing visibility they had never had before and helping leaders better understand emerging risks around public gatherings, critical infrastructure, and other sensitive locations.
The data also helped strengthen conversations with agency leadership and policymakers about the importance of proactive airspace monitoring.
The success of the initial deployment led RIEMA to renew and expand its partnership with SkySafe. What began as a focused effort to monitor drone activity around Newport’s major events is evolving into a broader statewide drone detection and airspace intelligence program.
As part of the expansion, RIEMA is extending coverage to additional critical infrastructure locations while adding mobile drone detection capabilities that can be deployed wherever temporary operations, special events, or emerging security concerns require additional visibility.
Today, SkySafe supports a growing statewide effort that brings together RIEMA, the Rhode Island State Police, Fusion Center personnel, FAA representatives, TSA, FBI, and local public safety agencies. Together, these organizations use drone activity data to improve situational awareness, support investigations, develop operational procedures, and strengthen airspace security across Rhode Island.
“The data we've collected has demonstrated the value of the program. It helped us secure support for expansion, and now we're growing our coverage because stakeholders can clearly see the need.”
John Washburn
Associate Director of Operations, RIEMA
Looking Ahead
What began as a response to a single drone incident has evolved into a coordinated statewide approach to drone detection and airspace intelligence. With a renewed and expanded SkySafe deployment, RIEMA is continuing to build a scalable framework for protecting public events, critical infrastructure, and the communities it serves.
As drone activity continues to increase nationwide, Rhode Island’s experience demonstrates how public safety agencies can move from limited visibility to comprehensive airspace awareness, creating stronger partnerships, better intelligence, and more effective protection of the people and places they serve.
“Having SkySafe help us monitor gives us peace of mind that we can protect our city, visitors, and residents while hosting events that people flock to attend and enjoy.”
John Washburn
Associate Director of Operations, RIEMA
