News, deep dives, and analysis — every California story, newest first.
California says its AI-enabled ALERTCalifornia cameras have flagged more than 900 fires before any 911 call, while FireSat satellites and drone programs deepen the state’s wildfire tech stack.
A Placer County Sheriff's drone searched inside a barn full of hay bales, located a domestic violence suspect wedged into the stack, and ended the standoff without deputies climbing blindly into a dangerous hiding place.
Palm Springs police used DJI thermal drones and Dock 3 launch stations to track a teen rider from above without triggering a dangerous street pursuit, turning a baited chase into a quiet arrest directed entirely from the air.
An 18-year-old whitewater kayak guide from Grass Valley is building Winter, an autonomous drone that pairs thermal search with defibrillator and water delivery, after losing a friend in a kayaking accident.
Several San Diego County cities are putting police drones in the air this Fourth of July weekend to enforce a fireworks ban and catch the people who ignore it. Oceanside, Escondido, and Carlsbad updated their ordinances this year to pair steep fines with drone-and-ground patrols, following California cities like Chino and San Bernardino that tried…
Santa Maria’s police department is getting its drone-as-first-responder program off the ground with money raised at a charity gala, not a line in the city budget. The Santa Maria Police Council, a nonprofit booster group, pulled in about $95,000 at its annual fundraiser and is handing the department a $97,869 donation to buy the aircraft.…
Two California cities moved to put police drones in the air the same week, and both ran straight into residents who don’t want them there. West Hollywood launches a sheriff-run drone program by the end of July. Berkeley opens bidding on a public safety package that bundles drones with license plate readers and cameras. DroneXL…
The Irvine Police Department’s Drone as First Responder program ended a Walmart shoplifting case the same way it ends most calls these days, with the suspect on the ground and an aircraft watching from above. Officers arrested Guillermo Hazael Martinez Diaz, 26, on June 24 after a DFR drone tracked him from the store to…
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