(Image Credit: IMAGN) A senator is drafting legislation to approve the use of drones by hunters to recover mortally wounded big game animals like deer in Pennsylvania.
Los Angeles, California – The Los Angeles Police Commission has approved a major expansion of LAPD’s drone policy, allowing unmanned aircraft to be deployed not just in high-risk situations, but on routine emergency calls across the city. The vote marks a dramatic shift in how the department uses surveillance technology — and raises new questions about privacy, civil liberties, and policing in a sprawling, heavily surveilled metropolis.
Previously limited to extreme cases such as bomb threats or barricaded suspects, LAPD’s nine drones will now be dispatched to a far wider range of incidents, including standard calls for service, large events, and natural disasters. Oversight of the drone program will move from the department’s Air Support Division to its Office of Special Operations, signaling the program’s elevation within the department’s strategic planning.
Officials described the change as a long-overdue modernization. LAPD Cmdr. Bryan Lium told the commission that drones can provide crucial real-time intelligence — giving officers a clearer picture before they arrive at a potentially dangerous scene. Supporters pointed to cities like Beverly Hills, Culver City, and Chula Vista, which already use drones more routinely and tout benefits such as faster response times and improved officer safety.
But while the Commission endorsed the new policy in a public vote, not all members were convinced. Commissioner Teresa Sanchez Gordon voiced concern over how the drones might be used in the context of recent mass protests in Los Angeles, particularly against demonstrators lawfully exercising their rights. “I just want to make sure that the recording of these activities will not be used against individuals,” she said.
That tension — between technological promise and the weight of historical misuse — haunts the broader conversation. LAPD insists the drones will not be armed or outfitted with facial recognition software. Officials promised audits and a public web portal to track deployments, though it will not provide access to recorded footage. Still, community advocates worry the technology could become yet another tool used disproportionately in neighborhoods already over-policed and surveilled.
Tuesday’s vote launches a pilot program next month in four divisions: Topanga, West L.A., Harbor, and Central. The department will report back in six months on how the drones are used and how communities are affected. As with helicopters before them, drones are being cast as cost-effective, high-efficiency assets — but at a time of deep concern over public trust and the militarization of local policing, the decision feels less like innovation and more like a line crossed.
