The San Francisco Police Commission voted 5-1 on Wednesday, Oct. 14, to advance the department's first comprehensive policy on police drones, Departmental General Order 10.12. The rules still need review by the police union and approval by the Board of Supervisors, Mission Local and The San Francisco Standard reported.
What the rules say
- Drones may be used only for “legitimate law enforcement purposes,” including public safety, active criminal investigations and training.
- Officers need a warrant to observe or record the inside of a home or an enclosed yard not visible from the ground.
- Footage can be kept for 30 days, or up to two years if a captain or higher approves it for an open investigation.
- Officers need a captain's approval to access recordings, and sharing with other agencies needs SFPD legal approval.
- Drones can't be used for general surveillance, personal use, or monitoring people based only on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, or strictly to monitor protests.
Why critics object
About 50 people came to the meeting, many speaking against the policy, Mission Local reported. The ACLU, the public defender's office and the Electronic Frontier Foundation say the rules are too vague. Public Defender Mano Raju wrote that almost any patrol flight could be justified as “public safety” or “situational awareness,” the Standard reported.
Commissioner Kevin Benedicto cast the only no vote. “In San Francisco and across the country the public has expressed serious concerns about surveillance,” he said. Commission President C. Don Clay said the draft had been public for months and can be amended later.
How many drones SFPD uses
SFPD operates 98 drones, 14 of them launched remotely from its Real Time Investigation Center, a department spokesperson told Mission Local. The Standard reported the department now flies more than 600 drone flights a month, after voters approved drone use in 2024.