Drone-as-first-responder programs, pursuit footage, evidence policy, and the departments putting UAS on patrol.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a warning on June 26 that armed police drones are no longer a hypothetical, and that the absence of any federal law governing when American law enforcement can deploy force from a drone has left the question to the companies selling the hardware. The digital rights group, which has argued…
Cherry Valley Police Department in Illinois used a Skydio X10 with thermal imaging, a spotlight, and a speaker payload to locate and guide three stranded people out of the Kishwaukee River on the night of June 25, 2026. All three were unhurt when the Cherry Valley Fire Protection District took them to safety. The Winnebago…
A man wanted on felony warrants tried to vanish into a tall grass field in Eldora, Iowa on June 23, and a police drone with a thermal camera put him on the ground within minutes. The Eldora Police Department, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, and the State Center Police Department served a search warrant at…
Arvada Police Department in Colorado used its new Skydio X10 Drone First Responder program on June 17, 2026 to track and arrest a shoplifting suspect who fled on foot from a Target store, the agency confirmed in a statement. The drone was already airborne when the call came in. A loss prevention officer at the…
Welcome to your weekly US news update. I have three stories for you this week. The Skydio CEO walks back their no-weapon pledge, which is an interesting one. A Sacramento sheriff uses a DJI Avata 2 to disarm a suspect, which is kind of another crazy story. And then finally, the FBI seizes over 300…
The St Paul Police Department’s new dock-based Drone as First Responder program flew 472 missions in its first four weeks, already passing the 436 patrol-drone flights the department logged in all of 2025. The three rooftop Skydio X10 drones went live on May 30 and now reach calls in under 90 seconds, a number St…
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…
Hayward has approved an expanded Drone as First Responder program for 911 calls, putting eight new drones into a Bay Area policing model that promises faster scene awareness while raising familiar questions about privacy, protests, and how far “reactive” drone use can stretch before it starts looking proactive. Hayward Moves Drones Ahead Of Officers Hayward’s…
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