Drones Are Being Used to Support As Well as Defy the Law
Drones are powerful tools, so inevitably, there are ambitious parties looking to cash in on their potential for both good and ill.
When it comes to the aispace, there are vulnerabilities everywhere, plenty of open pathways for criminal drones to exploit. Despite this, few neighborhoods, corporations, and even governments have many (if any) options to help them detect and mitigate unfriendly drones.
All this as drones become more and more accessible, more capable, and as military and law enforcement agencies across the world are reporting innovative new forms of drone-enabled crime— such as using drones for unlawful surveillance, contraband delivery into prisons, smuggling over international boundaries, reconnaissance to support other types of crime, and more.
Some of the Good: The Rising Trend of Drones in Law Enforcement
The use of drones in law enforcement has transformed police operations worldwide. Various police departments in the United States are integrating drones into their operations with programs tailored to enhance public safety in significant ways.
Advocates of these new programs emphasize how drones can arrive at emergency sites faster than police cars, providing crucial in-advance information to en route officers. They can also deliver messages to those at crime scenes, guide and prompt de-escalation, and protect both civilian and police officer lives from a multitude of dangers.
Voices critical of police drones are concerned about unauthorized police surveillance, limited accountability for police drone use, mission scope creep, and the potential disproportionate use of this technology to monitor and regulate vulnerable groups such as the homeless or those in minority neighborhoods.
Like them or dislike them, used for good or ill, drones can be very effective. Drones equipped with thermal imaging, such as the DJI Matrice and DJI Mavic, provide police officers with aerial surveillance capabilities, enabling them to deploy drones for crime scene investigations, search and rescue operations, criminal negotiations, and more.
These drones can be used effectively for real-time monitoring and can cover large areas quickly, much more quickly than police cars and much more cheaply than helicopters, all of which is quickly making them indispensable tools for law enforcement agencies. One standout example comes from Elizabeth, New Jersey, where a local police drone program was able, over the course of six months, to clear 25% of the calls the department received without the need for on-scene officers.
Successful Drone Programs in the United States
The integration of drone technology into law enforcement operations has transformed the work of various police agencies across the United States. Police departments using drones, such as the Chula Vista Police Department, have demonstrated successful use cases where drones are deployed for public safety.
Other police departments with drone programs in the U.S. include:
- The Los Angeles Police Department. This department recently received legal permission to expand its drone operations to include "calls for service", high-risk incidents, investigative purposes, large-scale events, and natural disasters. Formerly, drones could only be used by the LA police to respond to incidents involving barricaded suspects or explosives.
- In 2024, the NYPD's (New York Police Department) "Drones as First Responders" program received permission from the FAA to launch drones from remote designated locations around the city (instead of just from NYPD offices or directly from a police vehicle) to respond to police calls. This upgrade to remote launching has decreased call response times significantly, helping police officers stop subway surfers, shoplifters, home invaders, and fights.
- San Francisco reported a 34% drop in reported crimes in 2024. Multiple articles have linked this 10-year low in crime to San Francisco's relatively new and rapidly expanding police drone program.
Types of Drones Used by Law Enforcement Agencies
As more police departments across the United States are utilizing various types of drones for police work, the applications of police drones have multiplied. So, as one might expect, different drone types are increasingly used for different purposes by different police departments.
Drones like the DJI Matrice and DJI Mavic are popular choices for aerial surveillance and crime scene investigations. Some specialized drones come with speakers, and others with the ability to break glass windows to gain access to indoor spaces during emergencies.
Police departments are increasingly creative and, looking to use more and more specialized drones for various operations, including detective work, search and rescue, active-incident reconnaissance, and more, are giving more and more ideas and feedback to drone manufacturers.
Drones in Detective Work
Detectives get farther, faster with their investigations when they have the right tools, which in the modern era means drones.
Speed is critical in detective work. The trail can run cold quickly if investigators don't keep ahead of things. Crucial evidence can degrade, be tampered with, or removed if law enforcement professionals can't get to it fast enough.
Drones can arrive on the scene early, securing evidence against interference or at least catching that interference on camera. They can scan wide urban and rural areas for evidence much more quickly than human eyes can. Perhaps under some circumstances, drones can monitor for and follow suspects at or near crime scenes, keeping track of them until law enforcement personnel can arrive.
In one published incident, a drone following a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime captured live footage of them taking off and throwing away their black shirt to reveal a bright pink shirt underneath. The suspect, likely thinking that their changed appearance would throw off suspicion, was surprised to be apprehended by deputies a short time later.
Perhaps there's a future where police drones are equipped with extra forensic supplies or (as is hotly debated at present) facial recognition technology to help with investigations.
Drones for Search and Rescue Operations
When someone is lost, especially during a natural disaster, their survival depends on how quickly they can be found. Search and rescue experts often talk about the "Golden Hour". This is the first hour after an individual goes missing, wherein mobilization is the most critical and wherein the most lives are saved. Survival rates decrease sharply the longer it takes for search and rescue personnel/resources to reach the victims.
Fortunately, drones can cover large areas quickly, helping to locate missing persons or assess disaster damage from above. They can do this much more quickly than traditional first responders on foot, in vehicles, or even in helicopters. Many search and rescue drones are equipped with thermal imaging and can detect heat signatures, allowing them to quickly pinpoint the location of survivors over large areas. Drones can also access hard-to-reach places, such as on mountain tops, down gorges or crevices, boats and islands far from the mainland, etc, where survivors may be trapped. As an added bonus, drones can quickly airlift vital medical or other supplies (ropes, flares, emergency rations, etc) to survivors or their rescuers as needed.
Even if the location of the rescuee or rescuees is known, drones can still be of use. They can fly ahead to provide advance intelligence to en route first responders, improving their navigation around obstacles or providing other information on the situation, terrain, and what must be done once responders arrive on the scene, or impart instruction or much-needed supplies to the citizens already on the scene.
Reconnaissance Drones for Law Enforcement
When the goal is not to investigate a crime but to interrupt and put a stop to an ongoing crime or other dangerous incident, speed is, again, of the essence.
Drones provide law enforcement with sweeping aerial surveillance, enabling police officers to gather critical information quickly, determine their priority objectives before they arrive, navigate complex environments, strategize their approach, track suspects, coordinate better with emergency response, undercover, or other personnel, and much more. Drones that can detect heat signatures or break through windows can capture more information that may prove vital to police officers on their way to respond to the event.
Drones like the DJI Mavic can fly ahead and gather information, decreasing the overall incident risk to police officers as well as the public involved in and nearby ongoing incidents. Just a little advanced information allows police officers to plan, adapt, and mitigate a wide variety of risks to themselves and the public. As a result, in the eyes of many, perhaps especially those looking at injury and fatality reports, drones have become indispensable tools for police departments.
Drones Are Helping in Other Areas of Public Service
Drones are helping in other areas of public service, including various fields such as commercial delivery, monitoring critical infrastructure, and helping to monitor/manage non-police related incidents. They are increasingly being utilized for routine inspections of bridges, power lines, and manufacturing facilities, allowing for more timely maintenance and safety assessments. Their ability to provide real-time aerial footage and data collection has proven invaluable in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of many public service operations outside of law enforcement.
Criminals Use Drones Too—For All Kinds of Purposes
Police drones aren't the only drones appearing at and interacting with crime scenes. Just as drones are becoming popular and plentiful in police work, they're also appearing more and more frequently in the hands of criminals.
Law enforcement agencies around the world are getting more and more reports of drone-enabled crimes. From nuisance complaints to stalking, to smuggling, to corporate espionage, from the careless and clueless to the intentional vandalist and terrorist, drones are being used by the bad guys too. Unfortunately, if police drones can be equipped with glass-breaking attachments, infrared, and other specialized components, then so can criminal drones. If good drones ensure that police can move with greater information, speed, and efficiency, then bad drones can do the same for criminals. What's worse, much of policing is reactive, responding to and trying to "catch up to" criminals who have already taken the initiative.
Drones such as the DJI Matrice and DJI Mavic are commercially available, so a criminal could buy one just as easily as a police department.
The public is adjusting to the sight, sound, and presence of drones in their airspace. But we mustn't reach a point where it is taken for granted that any drone flying anywhere is doing so with good intentions. Putting protective, regulatory measures in place now will deny criminal drones the ability to get away with drone crimes by "blending in" with other drone traffic. The public should know that the very same build and model of UAS used by the police to scout out active crime incident locations can just as easily be used by criminals to scout out places to rob, vandalize, or terrorize.
How Can the Police Manage and Investigate Illegal Drone Activity?
At Spotter Global, we recognize the urgent need for effective drone detection tools that distinguish between friendly and unfriendly, legal and illegal drones without adding complexity or risk. That’s why our Remote Drone Identification (RDID) system was developed—to give security personnel and detectives the upper hand in picking out suspect drones and giving them a powerful, legal mitigation option by pinpointing the location of suspect drone pilots.
RDID works by leveraging FAA-mandated Remote ID broadcasts, passively collecting key data such as drone position, altitude, flight path, serial number, as well as pilot location. This real-time visibility into the airspace turns wide areas of airspace that used to be blind spots into valuable, readable pools of intelligence.
The future requires more than just airspace regulation, but airspace monitoring and accountability. RDID provides that.
How Police Departments Can Use RDID to Prevent and Prosecute Drone-Enabled Crimes
For detectives, RDID offers powerful capabilities:
- Apprehend Drone-Enabled Criminals in the Act: Often, the only legal option police or security personnel have for stopping criminal drones is to quickly find and intervene directly with the drone pilot. With RDID, police officers and security personnel can quickly pinpoint the location of drone pilots who are flying their drones over private property, stadiums, airport runways, or critical infrastructure and go confront them. Sometimes only a warning and directive to change flight behavior will be needed; other times, drone pilots will be fined, arrested, ordered to pilot their drones back to their launch location and land them, or in extreme cases, maybe even have their drone controls confiscated so police can land their errant drone.
- Uncover Surveillance and Stalking: Criminals are increasingly using drones to observe law enforcement, victims, and properties before committing crimes. RDID allows investigators to detect and document drone flights over a nearly 7000-acre area, allowing investigators to go back in the data, trace criminal drone and pilot movements, and build evidence for search warrants and prosecution.
- Link Drones to Suspects: By capturing and identifying metadata, RDID makes it possible to associate a drone with a person or organization. When time-stamped data is matched with on-the-ground activity, detectives can establish patterns and intent and sometimes even pick up license plate numbers or perpetrator photos from local security footage. Additionally, with drone registration numbers, detectives can collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration to uncover the identity of rogue drone pilots who escape the scene of their crimes. It’s like collecting DNA evidence in the sky.
- Protect Active Investigations: Whether securing a crime scene or taking witness statements, the last thing detectives need is a drone in the sky spying on or even simply distracting from their active investigation efforts. RDID alerts teams to the presence of unauthorized drones, helping prevent counter-surveillance, media leaks, or other possible drone interferences.
- Aid Digital Forensics: RDID logs flight history, providing investigators with a searchable database of drone activity over specific times and locations. This historical data can be used to corroborate witness statements or track repeat offenders. For example, this data could be very useful in collecting evidence against stalkers or in proving that trespassing suspects "cased" certain locations before the break-in incident.
- Operate Legally and Safely: Unlike jamming technologies, RDID is a passive, non-intrusive solution that fully complies with FAA regulations—making it ideal for use by law enforcement agencies without risk of interference or liability.
At Spotter Global, we are committed to helping law enforcement stay ahead of emerging threats. RDID is more than just a detection tool—it’s an investigative force multiplier that brings clarity and control to the airspace. To keep the good and remove the bad out of the skies, we need airspace awareness and accountability..
How to Distinguish Law Enforcement Drones from Hostile, Nefarious Drones
Not by sight. Plenty of criminals buy their drones from the same vendors as the police. Two factors are most relevant in distinguishing friendly vs unfriendly drones:
1) Behavior/Flight Location:
If it's flying where it shouldn't, it's no police drone.
Ok, it's technically possible (though unlikely due to the training and auditing measures in place) that a drone could be flown by a police officer breaking the law. But, having exited the realm of proper police authority, it would then be a criminal drone, regardless of who is flying it, how it was paid for, or how legally it usually flies.
Recognizing A Police Drone
When it comes to flying a drone, there are some places and some flight behaviors that police drones would know to avoid.
Police drone operators have to be trained and certified, and they'd certainly know not to fly their drones too near airports, over stadiums, or loiter them unnecessarily over peaceful residential property. Police drones don't patrol. They are deployed for specific missions, typically flying directly from their launch point to the relevant site and then directly back. So if a drone isn't purposefully moving towards an active police call/crime location, it's likely a civilian drone. If it's doing something it shouldn't be, it's a criminal drone no matter who is flying it.
RDID allows customers to set up custom alarm zones. Security managers can designate areas where 1) no drone should ever be unless in case of an emergency, or 2) where no drone should ever be, even during an emergency. These alert zones can notify security personnel, police, or other authorized personnel that there's a trespassing drone in the area and someone needs to go have a word with the pilot who is at the precise coordinates provided by the RDID.
2) Presence or Absence of Remote ID
The Remote ID broadcast is required by law for all drones over 0.55 lbs., which includes the models typically used as police drones.
If a drone is detected in the airspace via camera, acoustic sensor, radar, etc, but not by the RDID, it's a non-compliant drone. Very possibly, it's a "dark drone", and dark drones are much more likely to be about nefarious tasks than regular radio broadcast drones.
Once the presence of a "dark drone" or non-Remote ID-emitting drone is confirmed, the highest level security response should be enacted.
Conclusion
Drones are just one more tool, a tool that will be used for both good and ill, depending on who is behind the controls.
In the way of good news, drones have been greatly enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement operations, increasing the overall safety of both private citizens and responding police officers. These drones help keep communities safe by providing real-time data and allowing for the efficient monitoring of crime scenes.
However, just as the use of police drones is expanding, so is the use of criminal drones. Drones offer a range of applications that can suit either criminal or law enforcement needs. And it's only expected to escalate on both sides, with both criminal networks and law enforcement departments using a variety of drones tailored to specific mission requirements.
All of which is why reliable drone detection solutions that support immediate mitigation efforts are vital. The sooner proper protections and regulations are set up, the harder it will be for criminal drone habits to get a hold in public airspace. RDID offers real-time, actionable intel to help support and protect beneficial police drone work from the interference of criminal drone behavior.