A look at SFPD's new drone program and how it's reshaping the department's response to incidents

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- ABC7's data team is tracking surging police drone use in San Francisco, where more than 600 flights each month are reshaping how the department responds to incidents and raising new questions about oversight, transparency and how the technology is being deployed.

The San Francisco Police Department launched its "Drones as First Responders" program in 2024 after voters approved Measure E, a public-safety-focused overhaul that enabled the department to add drones to its emergency response and surveillance operations.

An analysis of flight logs found that SFPD began conducting dozens of surveillance flights each month beginning in mid-2024. By spring 2025, monthly flights surpassed 100. By February 2026, the department launched more than 600 surveillance flights.

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Geographically, drone surveillance has been concentrated primarily in three neighborhoods: the Mission, South of Market and the Tenderloin.

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Training flights ramped up in late 2025, reaching 274 flights in January.

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The most common incidents to prompt drone deployment were stolen vehicles, followed by robbery, burglary, reports of a person with a gun, and auto burglary.

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ABC7 Eyewitness News was granted rare access to the San Francisco police department's Real-Time Investigation Center, where operators control drones launched from rooftops across San Francisco.

Inside the center, operators monitor live video feeds to assist officers in the field. During one demonstration observed by ABC7 last March, an operator maneuvered a drone as a call came in about a reported stolen white minivan.

"Maintaining westbound 209..." an operator said over the radio. From the center, an operator guided the drone as it tracked the vehicle through city streets.

"Ah, like a motorcycle right in front of it. But it's number 4 lane," an operator said. At one point, the drone video showed a single person behind the wheel.

"So far, I can only see a driver," an operator added.

The drone followed the driver for several blocks until the vehicle was parked. Undercover officers in an unmarked car moved in after receiving a description from the Real-Time Investigation Center.

Lt. Scott Ryan of the San Francisco Police Department said the technology is giving officers more effective tools.

"We had a very hard-working force that was out there and now all you've given them are the best tools that we have. They are hitting their stride," Ryan said.

Drone video recorded sirens and officers closing in, with one voice shouting, "HE'S COMING AWAY."

The police department says it posts some drone videos on social media to demonstrate to residents that the technology can be effective in combating certain crimes.

Overall, crime in San Francisco is down significantly, according to the department.

In one example described in department materials, "SFPD police officers with the citywide plain clothes team began surveillance on a purple dodge Challenger suspected in a series of auto burglaries.

Officers saw a man in a black ski mask exit the car and head toward a school on the 1,300 block of 7th Avenue with a drone video unit overhead."

In another drone recording, an officer narrated a pursuit as it unfolded from above:

"It's going to be going west. The officer then observed the suspect, who believed they had outmaneuvered the marked patrol unit, park and exit the vehicle. Blue jeans on, white shoes, he has a big jacket on and he's going eastbound toward Pine. Office O'Keefe and Dudum then arrived and placed the suspect under arrest without incident."

Ryan said the visibility of the drone program is intended to send a clear message.

"We're absolutely using that as a message to send out that if you come here to San Francisco, you're going to be held responsible for what you're doing. We're not going to put up with it," he said.