Haivision Report: Public Safety Technology Trends 2026

Haivision has released its 2026 Public Safety Technology Report, a new industry study exploring the adoption, operational challenges, investment priorities, and emerging trends of real-time video and command center technologies across public safety organizations.

“The public safety community is embracing technologies that deliver faster access to real-time intelligence and improve operational decision-making,” said Marcus Schioler, VP of marketing at Haivision. “The findings in this report demonstrate how live video, including drone programs, command center technologies, and AI-powered video analytics are now essential components of modern public safety operations. At the same time, organizations continue to face challenges around interoperability, information sharing, and resource constraints, highlighting the need for integrated technology ecosystems that connect people, systems, and data when every second matters.”

Based on responses from public safety professionals across law enforcement, fire and rescue, and emergency management, the report provides a comprehensive view of how live video, operation and command center technologies, AI-powered video analytics, communications infrastructure, and other video technologies are supporting mission-critical operations.

The findings show that public safety agencies are increasingly relying on live video and advanced situational awareness technologies while navigating budget constraints, integration challenges, network reliability concerns, and the growing complexity of information sharing across systems and agencies.

Live video has become fundamental to modern public safety operations, with 77% of organizations relying on fixed surveillance cameras, while over half integrate drones (57%) and body-worn cameras (54%) to capture real-time feeds across diverse environments. Central to managing these visual streams are operation and command centers, operated by 69% of respondents to oversee critical functions such as real-time crime monitoring, emergency response, and crowd control. Looking ahead, "Drone as First Responder" programs represent the leading planned technology investment, with 45% of agencies planning deployment over the next 12 months.

Furthermore, artificial intelligence is set to drive the next wave of innovation: 76% of respondents believe AI-powered video analytics will have the greatest impact on public safety over the next five years—far outranking other emerging tools—while 34% are already actively leveraging AI technologies such as license plate readers, object detection, and facial recognition.

You can download the complete 2026 Public Safety Technology Report here.