San Francisco launches police drone operations
San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has unveiled its new public safety drone program
As part of the program, SFPD has deployed an initial fleet of six drones to serve the Californian city, with more planned for introduction in future.
The city government stated that “with these drones, SFPD has air support for the first time in 24 years”.
The aircraft will be integrated with other technologies in use by SFPD, such as automatic license plate readers (ALPR) and public safety cameras. However, the city confirmed that it has also implemented policies to safeguard against potential invasions of privacy that could potentially result from their operation.
“New technology is helping us make San Francisco safer and continue to hold people accountable when they break the law in our city,” said London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco.
“This is about being smarter on crime by giving our officers the tools to better do their jobs. For too long, San Francisco chose to stand in the way of this kind of progress, but now thanks to the voters we are delivering real change and modernizing our police force,” she added.
Aerial firefighting firm Aero-Flite announced the establishment of a new base in Chico, California, earlier this year.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.