Remembering Romeo Durscher
1975 - 2025
Most of you reading this have likely met Romeo or, at the very least, heard of his passion and tireless efforts to advance the use of drones to improve public safety.
Earlier this week I, alongside other members of the public safety community attending a summit in Texas, heard of his passing. Though it was not unexpected, as I had been getting updates from him as he bravely fought his cancer, it of course did not make the news any easier to process.
To say he played a vital role in bringing drones into public safety would be an understatement.
Following an early career in banking and - if you can believe it - a 12-year stint at NASA, Romeo joined DJI in 2015, where he spearheaded many of the early training and education programmes that supported research and use case development for drones across a range of industries.
In the years that followed, he worked closely with me as a Fire Chief as well as many others in the early days of the public safety drone community, constantly learning and exploring innovative ways to integrate drone technology across fire services, law enforcement, search and rescue, and emergency medical response.
His efforts helped shape how public safety agencies use drones today, leading to countless lives saved and protecting police officers, firefighters, and the communities they serve.
I will forever be grateful to Romeo for being the one who brought me into DJI, and I had the privilege of witnessing his passion and commitment firsthand. I will never forget my first day with him at DJI and our childlike excitement of flying the brand new DJI Mavic Mini from outside into the DJI Palo Alto office, knowing that while it was made to be a consumer drone our shared vision was it would of course be used by police as a tool to de-escalate situations and save even more lives.
I will also say on a more personal note that again speaks to the caring person that Romeo was, knowing that I was not merely changing jobs, I was changing careers, my whole identity from one of public service to the private sector. With this in mind, Romeo opened his home to me literally, allowing me to stay with him during my first few weeks of transition at DJI. Again, another memory of his generosity, I will always cherish.
Let me also say that he truly leaves behind an amazing legacy in many ways. For his friends and family his last greatest gift we were given was the knowledge that he was at peace as he ended his life’s journey. I was afforded the chance to see him one last time in his hometown in Switzerland and be given the gift of new friends much like him. I will also say, as I close this, his influence - and impact - will be felt for many years to come, and he will always be remembered as one of the greatest of all time in our community as so many in public safety are able to continue his life’s work of making the world a better place through the use of drones.
Rest easy my friend, you did your job well. We will take it from here.
- Wayne Baker
