The San Francisco Police Department announced today that it has acquired six police drones for use across the city, and that it has plans to acquire more in the coming months. Already, the drones have been used to arrest car break-in suspects and monitor July 4 fireworks in the Mission, police brass said in a Tuesday morning press conference.
Standing before reporters, city officials used one phrase again and again: “Game changer.”
“Drones have truly been a game changer for our police department,” said Chief Bill Scott, standing next to Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins inside police department headquarters at 1245 Third St. “We’ve been without air support for over 24 years … and our officers now have a tremendous technology at their fingertips that other law enforcement agencies regularly use.”
“It’s a game changer,” echoed Breed. “And more importantly, there is more to come. This is only the beginning.”
Privacy advocates are describing the drone rollout a little bit differently: As a violation of state law.
“The department is acting outside the law, and that is not a good example of a law-enforcement agency for the community,” said John Lindsay-Poland, a co-director at the American Friends Service Committee. The group has fought against police use of military technology before, including during the surprise reversal of the department’s attempt to use “killer robots” in 2022.
Lindsay-Poland pointed to AB 481, which requires advance notice to and approval by a “governing body” — in this case, the Board of Supervisors — before “military equipment” can be deployed by police. That notice was not sent, he said, and the approval not given.
“It’s important for community members to have a say, and for elected officials to have authority on where’s the line, on a use that’s acceptable to the community or desired by the community,” he said.
Six drones, with 22 more to come
Half a dozen drones have been deployed by the department so far, costing $35,054 total. The drones were purchased in May, and the department plans to purchase 22 more at a cost of $324,248, according to police documents.
The total drone fleet is expected to cost $190,707 annually when accounting for data storage, batteries and other costs, according to the police documents.
The new technology is a direct result of Proposition E, the Breed-sponsored ballot measure passed by voters in March that expanded police use of surveillance technology and eased rules governing car chases while limiting the Police Commission’s oversight over the department.
The department showed video on Tuesday of drones being used several times: Monitoring street fireworks in the Mission on July 4, and surveilling masked individuals on motorcycle dirt bikes as they roamed around the city, looking for vehicle targets.
The drones caught the suspects in the act of breaking into vehicles, and officers subsequently made arrests. The department said three people have been arrested, and Jenkins said two have been charged.
Jenkins underscored the importance of having the evidence provided by the drone footage. “Jurors in 2024 expect to see what happened; they don’t just want to be told by a police officer what they saw.”
The state law governing police use of military equipment, AB 481, was passed in 2021 and sponsored by then-Assemblymember David Chiu, who is now the city attorney. The law requires notice to a “governing body” before any purchase of equipment like drones, and allows the body to set rules for use of the equipment.
That approval was not sought before the drones were purchased, which Lindsay-Poland said does not allow for proper oversight.
At this morning’s press conference, Scott said the department was in full compliance with state law. He pointed to a pending ordinance before the Board of Supervisors that would regulate drone usage — the legislation Lindsay-Poland said was required before the acquisition of drones.
Scott, for his part, added that in a “First Amendment situation,” such as monitoring a protest or any large crowds, drone footage would be purged. For criminal cases in which the footage is being used as evidence, the footage is kept until the case is concluded. In all other instances, Scott said, the footage is purged within 30 days.
Drones are not passively surveilling San Francisco, the police chief added. They are only deployed for a “criminal investigation and/or some critical incident,” like the Independence Day fireworks.
Lindsay-Poland countered that those terms were “pretty broad,” and required the input of elected officials.
Good. This is what we voted for.
There are still many pro-criminal voters in this city, but they did not outweigh the rest of us, thankfully.
With our shortage of police officers coupled with the abundance of home and car break-ins, I have zero problem with the police force using drones to catch criminals.
Campers,
Prop E also gave the cops freedom to install Face Recognition technology in their cameras as I recall and the power to activate these systems can be delegated all the way down to the rank of Sergeant.
No more jay walking or failing to wait for the Walk signal cause it will show up in your Bar Code ‘Social Credit Score’ which is posted at the entry to your dwelling just like mail boxes.
They already do this in China.
No more cop/s in a car with coffee across street but rather a small flying camera that sits on a ledge or roof or street light and why don’t I care ?
Peskin for Mayor !
(Ayuk turned down 32m a year from Bean Town)
h.
Thanks for this reporting. I’m glad we have Mission Local to do real journalism on what our city’s officials are up to.
(The Chronicle had a story on this that read like a lightly edited press release – just stenography for what the police and DA wanted to say. Better than nothing, I suppose; but not nearly as good as a reporter doing the work to take a skeptical eye, give broader context, and find a source with a different perspective.)
If SFPD sent helicopters to hover over protests going years back, why would we trust them not to send drones?
Good for SFPD for utilizing drone technology. The SF police are now at such a disadvantage because criminals know all the ins and outs, particularly the obnoxious and dangerous dirt bikers and sideshow hooligans, that SFPD, needs something to counter the blatant lawlessness increasingly prevalent in our city. A small drone is NOT “military equipment” any more than is a pair of high-powered binoculars. The police can get all the visual information they need using a simple consumer drone like the DJI Mini 3 (altho they’re probably using a larger drone), available to anyone without a license for under $1,000, and access places that no police cruiser, motorcycle, or cop on foot can reach. There is no “right of privacy” in public. So if you commit a crime thinking that you’re immune to arrest because you’re so clever or bold, or because the cops are so hobbled, I hope drones will give them the leg up that they need to arrest you. This is NOT a civil liberties or privacy issue. It’s just too damn easy to commit a crime in SF (and Oakland is just as bad), and for the sake of this city’s viability, that needs to change.
Thank you Mayor Breed for further militarizing our police, and increasing their estrangement from the general population. I see them all holed up in their fortress on 3rd Street sending out AI drones to preemptively neutralize “criminals” as they cruise around in armored vehicles. I guess the Fourth Amendment will very soon be a distant memory. Don’t imagine for a minute these robo-taxis are really intended to be taxis.
The ghettobirds are evolving….