Officials in more Orange County cities are starting to roll out drones to help police the streets amid concerns from some residents on how the footage is stored and used.
Elected leaders in cities across the region including Irvine, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach have been ratcheting up their spending and use of drones in recent years – implementing drone first responder programs they say will cut response times and protect officers.
[Read: Orange County’s Police Surveillance Increases Amid Budget Woes]
Now, two of OC’s smaller cities are looking to either acquire drones or launch a similar first responder drone program.
On Tuesday, officials in Cypress moved forward with an over $138,000 three-year contract for police drones without much discussion while Stanton leaders narrowly approved allowing Sheriff deputies to use their drone as a first responder program in their city.
Stanton Mayor David Shawver said the drone program will save lives and time.
“If we can decrease response time to where responses are quicker and the evaluation is done before our deputies have to get there, it’s going to do three things. Number one is going to protect the person that called, it’s going to protect our deputies, and it’s going to give them the ability, if nothing’s going on, to move on to the next call,” he said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“It saves a lot of time and it might even save a life.”
At the meeting, Stanton City Council members voted 3-0-2 to allow sheriff deputies, who are contracted by the city for law enforcement, to use their drone program within the town’s limits.
Councilman Victor Barrios was absent from the meeting, while Councilman Donald Torres abstained from the vote.
Torres raised concerns of a ramping up of surveillance technology in one of OC’s smallest cities, worried that outside federal agencies could access the data collected and questioned how and if the data could be shared.
“I want for the city of Stanton to be able to adopt a groundbreaking technology that makes residents safer while protecting their privacy and civil liberties,” he said at the meeting.
“I’m abstaining from this item due to there not being a sufficient safeguard around surveillance and the collection of data produced.”
Like Torres, some residents and activists are raising privacy concerns about the drones, worried about them surveilling residents and worried that the footage obtained could be shared with immigration enforcement agents.
They are not just concerned about drones.
A host of residents and activists are also raising alarms and similar privacy concerns about local elected officials ramping up street cameras and automated license plate readers to beef up surveillance.
[Read: OC Cities Look to Beef Up Surveillance Amid Privacy Concerns]
The drone program in Stanton was approved after OC Sheriff Deputies launched a five-week pilot program last year in San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point using the drones.
According to a staff report, the drones responded to 82 calls during those five weeks, arriving before deputies 91% of the time with an average response time of one minute and 32 seconds.
About 20% of the 82 calls were resolved without requiring deputy response, according to the report.
Two residents publicly called on elected officials to have a more robust and thorough analysis and outreach to residents about the program before moving forward with it.
Doug Makino, a resident and member of the city’s public safety committee, called on sheriff deputies to show a causal relationship between use of drones and a reduction in crime and said the proposal should have come before his committee and fleshed out publicly overtime.
“Consider what it means to be routinely flying a drone across the city, equipped with high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging. How do you think the residents and guests of Stanton will feel knowing these are flying through our skies on a daily basis?” Makino said at the July 14 meeting.
“Council is proposing a paradigm shift in how policing is done in Stanton. Yet the staff report is a brief three-page summary that examines potential benefits while lacking interrogation of the possible risks, liabilities, and consequences for the city and its residents.”
Stanton Debates Surveillance State
Orange County Sheriff on March 5, 2024. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Torres said surveillance and data collection has reached unprecedented heights with the use of automated license plate readers and security cameras.
Now drones, he said, are raising even more concerns.
“We’ve never had this data collection before on our residents. Although these services aid in local enforcement and officer safety, the manner in which this data is being accessed by outside agencies is deeply troubling,” he said.
Torres also called for more public discussions on the drones including hosting town halls to gather public input before moving forward with a significant shift in how the city is policed.
Stanton City Manager Hannah Shin-Heydorn said the drone program is only intended to improve emergency response and situational awareness for officers and not intended to expand data sharing with other law enforcement agencies.
“As with any technology, ongoing oversight, clearly established policies, and applicable law are the appropriate tools for ensuring responsible use. Staff believes the potential public safety, community safety, and officer safety benefits of this program warrant its consideration while continuing to manage these technologies transparently and responsibly,” she said.
Shawver said the drones won’t be flying around town 24/7, but rather deployed to respond to certain incidents like burglaries.
“It does not go and infringe on people’s privacy. It doesn’t impede or go and infringe on people’s rights,” he said.
Councilman John Warren said residents are living in an age of technology and that many websites are already tracking people’s data.
“We live in a technology age. Everybody asks what happens with data privacy. I mean, go log onto YouTube right now,” he said. “How many different advertisements and notices do we get these days that your information may be compromised?”
“It’s not the government collecting that data, though, and we shouldn’t be part of that problem,” Torres responded.
Shawver said the data collected will be safe, adding the benefits of the drones outweigh the concerns about data sharing.
“I know you’re worried about ICE coming into the city,” Shawver told Torres. “At least to my knowledge – maybe I’m wrong – but this particular drone program has not ever turned or worked with any of the federal government.”
Cypress Latest to Buy Drones
The seal of the city of Cypress, Calif. sits inside the Cypress Community Center on Sept. 7, 2022. It represents the four characteristics of Cypress; education, business and industry, churches, and residences.
Cypress officials voted unanimously Tuesday on the drones contract and accepted a $70,000 donation from the Cypress Police Foundation to offset the $138,000 cost.
“The use of drones by law enforcement agencies has expanded significantly throughout California and the United States as the technology has matured and demonstrated substantial operational benefits,” reads a Cypress Staff Report on the drone purchase.
“Today, public safety drones are widely recognized as an effective tool for improving emergency response, enhancing officer safety, reducing public risk, and increasing operational efficiency.”
Police Chief Mark Lauderback said the drones will be primarily used to patrol the city’s business parks at night, when officers are chasing suspects and lose them.
He added the drones can help to find missing people and monitor a couple of city events.
Cypress isn’t the only city that is purchasing drones this year.
Santa Ana officials in February approved a roughly $683,000 three contract for drones to launch their own drone as a first responder program despite privacy concerns from some residents.
Earlier this month, Mayor Valerie Amezcua publicly said the Police Chief will be showcasing the drones on August 1 at the police department community to the public.
“We will be demonstrating our drone as a first responder program and the community will be able to see a live feed of our drones,” Rodriguez said at the July 7 council meeting.
“Just a demonstration of our capabilities and how it’s a resource and it allows us to provide more efficient and effective policing services.”
Sara Leon contributed to the reporting in this article.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
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