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Commissioner Perea expressed concern regarding the drone program's community <br /> impact and timing, particularly given the known use of drones by federal agencies <br /> for immigration enforcement. He recommended adding language that prohibits the <br /> service provider from selling data or the unauthorized use of data, including video <br /> footage and recommended limiting authorized flight types to specific categories, <br /> such as search and rescues, missing person, explosive device investigation, <br /> firefighting support, and disaster or mass casualty support. <br /> Assistant City Attorney Jonathan Martinez confirmed the vendor contract includes <br /> a prohibition for the dissemination of the city's data and clarified that including any <br /> prohibition in the policy would have no binding effect on the third party. <br /> Vice Chair Castillo Laughton expressed concern regarding potential Fourth <br /> Amendment violations, noted similarities to previous court cases involving <br /> equipment such as helicopter and X-rays, and asked whether there are any <br /> protections in place to prevent Fourth Amendment violations and whether there was <br /> any research done on cases related to use of drones in other jurisdictions. He <br /> recommended strengthening the language in the policy in regards to when drones <br /> can be used for investigatory purposes. <br /> Deputy Chief Andrade stated officers will continue to abide by the Fourth <br /> Amendment and clarified drones will maintain their camera in the upward position <br /> during transit to a destination, once the drone arrives, an officer will manually initiate <br /> recording if necessary, and any footage not considered evidence will be purged. He <br /> stated there was no research done on litigations but obtained data from other <br /> agencies and was unable to locate an instance of resident complaints regarding <br /> drone usage and noted one known case involving a drone in the in Los Angeles <br /> area. <br /> Chair Carpenter expressed concern regarding privacy, cost, overall efficiency of the <br /> drone program and removing officer from the field solely for drone operation. He <br /> asked whether there would be enough operators to operate all five drones at one <br /> time, whether the budget includes the training for the operators, whether there is a <br /> recurring cost for the certification, and whether it would be possible for underutilized <br /> drone to be reassigned to a high service call area of the city. <br /> Deputy Chief Andrade stated the quantity of drones purchased was based on the <br /> size and population of the city, and operators will be a mix of assigned staff, noted <br /> that in preparation for the potential drone program some officers have already <br /> received their certification, and notes it is uncertain if there are any recurring costs <br /> for the certification. He stated adjustments could be made in the future to improve <br /> drone program's efficiency if needed. <br /> Commissioner Mejia asked whether the drone has the ability to focus in on what it <br /> is intending to capture in order to avoid inadvertently capturing unrelated footage. <br /> Deputy Chief Andrade stated the drone has the capability to zoom into the intended <br /> area. <br /> Commissioner Perea recommended the annual report include a map highlighting <br /> the most common areas the drone was deployed to. <br /> POLICE OVERSIGHT COMMISSION 6 MARCH 12, 2026 <br />