Axon announced the next evolution of its connected public safety ecosystem, unveiling new real-time and AI capabilities that now unite 911 intelligence, officer connectivity, and community collaboration into one seamless network.

The new advancements include:

• Prepared by Axon, which connects AI-powered 911 intelligence directly into Axon’s ecosystem.
• New Axon Assistant and Axon Air Drone as First Responder (DFR) capabilities accessed through Axon Body 4, delivering more real-time intelligence, awareness, and assistance to officers in the field, faster.
• Community Shield and Community Link, two new programs that connect agencies, residents, and businesses to better protect their communities together.

Own the Moment: Where Speed, Clarity, & Connection Come Together

Axon unveiled its collection of new connected capabilities last week at the 2025 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference   in Denver, just weeks after finalizing its acquisition of Prepared, a leader in AI-powered 911 call intelligence.

The ecosystem expansion marks the next leap in Axon’s vision to connect every moment of public safety from the first call for help to the final case resolution to expedite help and accelerate justice through one connected network.
Real-time technology continues to prove its critical role in public safety, underscored by recent recognition from Fast Company, which named the Axon Fusus platform as a Next Big Things in Tech honoree—a testament to how innovation in connected intelligence is transforming how agencies operate and respond.

“The future of public safety is defined by speed, clarity, and connection,” said Rick Smith, Axon’s founder and CEO. "We’re moving toward a world where data becomes insight instantly—where the moment a call begins, agencies can see, understand, and act together. Owning that moment, and giving it back to the people who protect us, is how we protect more lives.”

Across the United States and around the world, public safety agencies are being asked to do more with less. Crime remains roughly 40% higher than pre-2020 levels. Many departments face staffing shortages. The first two minutes of a 911 call often determine outcomes, yet the average response time for top-priority calls remains between seven and 10 minutes. These are the moments Axon said it is determined to change.

Connecting the Call: Turning 911 Into Real-Time Intelligence

For decades, the first seconds of an emergency have been the hardest to modernize. Dispatchers still rely on legacy systems built for landlines. Officers often arrive without full context. Critical details like caller location, urgency, and threat level move more slowly than the event itself.

That gap is finally closing, Axon said.

Prepared by Axon brings AI-powered automation and intelligence to the very first moment of every emergency. Its engine listens, transcribes, and interprets 911 calls in real time—identifying location, language, and urgency as they unfold. Callers can securely livestream video directly to dispatchers, showing them exactly what’s happening as it unfolds.

That intelligence and video now flow directly into Axon Fusus, the real-time crime center (RTCC) and operations platform trusted by agencies all over the world to manage live video, drones, and alerts from a single pane of glass. This unified operational view allows dispatchers, analysts, command center operators, and field officers see the same information, simultaneously.

Imagine calling 911 to report a car accident. The dispatcher answers; Prepared immediately transcribes and pinpoints the location. You stream what you see directly from your smartphone with a single tap. Within seconds, your video and call data appear in Fusus. A nearby traffic camera activates automatically. A drone launches to the area to get eyes on scene faster. Dispatchers guide responders around hazards while officers watch the same live feed en route. They arrive informed and ready, not guessing.

The flow of 911 information no longer stops at dispatch. It now travels with the officer. Axon said this is the new front end of public safety — faster, clearer, and connected from the very first call.

Connecting the Officer: Bringing AI-Powered Awareness to the Field

Axon Assistant, an AI-powered digital partner available via Axon Body 4, adds even more capability. It’s a live connection to the entire Axon network and beyond—dispatch, command, other responders, and other sources—delivering hands-free updates and intel through simple voice and touch commands.

Credit:

Photo: Axon

Axon also announced new capabilities in Axon Body 4 (AB4), giving officers in the field even more critical insight and real-time awareness directly from their body-worn cameras. Officers can now use that very device to silently request a drone assist from an RTCC operator to deploy directly to the officer’s location, providing live overwatch into Axon Fusus.

Axon Assistant, an AI-powered digital partner available via Axon Body 4, adds even more capability. It’s a live connection to the entire Axon network and beyond—dispatch, command, other responders, and other sources—delivering hands-free updates and intel through simple voice and touch commands.

Launched in April with Real-Time Translation, the next set of capabilities is now available and include:

• Agency Info: gain real-time answers pulled from approved agency systems—like license plates or policies—helping officers make faster, better-informed decisions in the field.
• General Info: get on-the-spot answers to field-relevant queries—from drug street names to math calculations—reducing time and attention spent searching or radioing for information.

Additionally, Axon is introducing a new premium connectivity subscription for Axon Body 4 that strengthens performance and reliability in the field. In further collaboration with FirstNet, Built with AT&T, the companies are bringing forward even more connectivity with mission-critical priority—the highest level of priority on the FirstNet network—for Axon Body 4 livestreams.

This gives agencies an added layer of reliability designed for major planned and unplanned public safety events, such as natural disasters, parades, and spontaneous protests. With mission-critical priority, supervisors, dispatchers, and command staff maintain uninterrupted, real-time visibility even when networks are congested—helping ensure faster decision-making, greater operational effectiveness, and enhanced officer safety.

As the first mission-critical live video solution for public safety, this collaboration between Axon and FirstNet represents a breakthrough in officer connectivity, keeping a reliable, real-time link open between every officer, every incident, and every command center when seconds matter most. This premium subscription builds on Axon Body 4’s powerful connected capabilities, giving agencies confidence that their video will work not only in everyday scenarios but also during the moments of highest stress when networks are strained, communities are watching, and officers need support the most.

Empowering the Public to Be Part of the Safety Network

Axon said it takes more than a single agency to keep a city, town, or neighborhood safe—it requires innovative technology, integrated partnerships, and seamless connection across systems, departments, and the community members themselves.

Axon also introduced Community Shield, a simple, scalable solution that helps agencies proactively protect their communities and enables them to respond faster, reduce harm, and resolve more when an incident does occur. It unites real-time crime centers (RTCC), drone as first responder (DFR), counter uncrewed aerial systems (CUAS), and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technologies into one integrated package that delivers clarity, speed, and accountability across every phase of crime detection and emergency response.

Community Shield brings together Axon Fusus, Axon Air DFR (in partnership with Skydio), Dedrone by Axon, and Axon Outpost, supported by more than 80 partner integrations. The result is a protective layer and connected operating picture—enabling agencies to better prevent crime, coordinate more effectively, cover more ground, and protect communities with greater confidence.

But technology alone isn’t enough. Safety also depends on connection with the communities being served and the people being protected.

Building on that foundation, Axon is debuting Community Link, an enhanced suite of tools within Axon Evidence that allow agencies to more efficiently and effectively collaborate with residents and businesses via Axon Evidence.

Community Link solutions include:

• Community Request: secure, voluntary video sharing from businesses and residents, including directly from Ring cameras.
• Community Notifications: real-time updates for 911 callers during active incidents.
• Community & Agency Surveys (formerly My90): two-way feedback tools that build transparency and trust.
• Retail Crime Hub Powered by Auror: a national collaboration platform integrated into the Axon Evidence investigative workflow to fight organized retail crime, which costs U.S. businesses more than $130 billion annually. [Source: National Retail Federation, 2024]

Together, Community Shield and Community Link strengthen the foundation of public safety, enabling agencies to protect and respond more effectively, while empowering residents and businesses to better support the safety of their communities.

When an incident ends, every piece of information—video, audio, transcripts, GPS data, and metadata—flows directly into Axon Evidence, maintaining a complete, traceable chain from the first call to the courtroom.

Additionally, Axon is preparing to launch the redesigned Axon Evidence experience, reimagined to make investigations faster, more intuitive, and more connected than ever. The new interface simplifies how agencies organize, review, and share evidence across cases, while continuing to add and enhance AI-powered automation to tasks like transcription, tagging, and redaction. It’s the same trusted system, but reimagined for the pace and complexity of modern public safety.

As part of this launch, Axon is introducing Brief One, an AI-powered capability included in the Axon AI Era Plan that accelerates digital evidence review for law enforcement. Built within Axon Evidence, Brief One automatically generates transcript summaries and identifies key moments—such as Miranda rights, field sobriety tests, or requests for identification—giving investigators faster insight into hours of video and audio. By surfacing critical details instantly and linking every AI summary back to its original source, Brief One helps agencies cut review time from hours to minutes, reducing backlog and keeping investigators focused on resolution instead of routine review.

Agencies adopting connected workflows are already seeing measurable impact. Through drone-as-first-responder programs, some now achieve visual confirmation of a scene in under 90 seconds. Many are resolving one in four calls without dispatching an officer, freeing resources for higher priorities. Officers are cutting report-writing time in half and gaining faster access to policy guidance in the field.

The result, according to Axon, is clearer decisions, faster resolutions, safer officers, accelerated justice—and more resilient communities.

Call to Closure: The Next Era of Connected Public Safety

By connecting 911 intelligence, real-time operations, officer connectivity, community engagement, and digital evidence, Axon is delivering a continuous ecosystem that turns the fractured chaos of an emergency into seamless clarity.

Information should move as fast as emergencies do,” said Smith. “Our mission has always been to protect life—and now, through AI and real-time connection.”