How San Francisco police use AI-powered drones
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Law enforcement agencies across the country are increasingly using AI-powered drones for pursuits, investigations and emergencies — including in San Francisco.
Why it matters: Local police and sheriffs departments are facing chronic staffing shortages amid pressures to reduce violent crime. AI-powered drones can do some police work, but using them raises new questions about surveillance and privacy.
State of play: 1,500 police and sheriff's departments were flying drones by late 2024 — a 150% jump since 2018.
- San Francisco police could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The big picture: An Axios analysis found that almost every major metropolitan area in the U.S. has a law enforcement agency with a drone system, even if the largest city has yet to adopt the technology or publicly announce its use.
Zoom in: San Francisco police began using drones after voters approved Proposition E in March 2024.
- In June, the department accepted a $9.4 million donation to expand its drone program and add 10 new drone takeoff sites.
How it works: Police deploy drones to locate missing persons, read license plates, monitor crowds, reconstruct accident scenes and assess active shooter events — giving them unprecedented real-time aerial views and data.
- The most recent drone flight log from August shows that San Francisco police used the technology in 94 incidents, including crimes such as robberies, narcotics sales, stolen vehicles and vandalism.
The intrigue: The AI-powered drones, equipped with cameras and sensors, are more powerful than standard human-operated drones.
- Some being used by police can monitor ground radar, air quality and even vital signs — including heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and oxygen levels — from 500 meters away, Cameron Chell, CEO of Canadian drone-maker Draganfly, told Axios.
By the numbers: SF Police say drones are helping drive down crime, which fell 28% in 2024 and is down another 30% as of April.
But as police across the country increasingly use drones, it remains unclear how law enforcement is using that data or what's happening to the data in the hands of private companies, Beryl Lipton, senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Axios.
- Police may be violating laws by collecting images from private property without a warrant, and laws haven't kept pace with the technology's capabilities to collect and store data, Lipton added.