On Wednesday evening, the Oceanside City Council gave unanimous approval to initiate a “Drone as a First Responder” trial project. This will permit the Oceanside Police Department to deploy drones before dispatching officers when responding to emergency calls. If all goes according to plan, this potential 13-month demonstration phase might commence as early as the following month.
“It is an absolute game changer when it comes to policing in Oceanside,” said Oceanside Police Chief Taurino Valdovinos. “You can only get so far and handle so many calls for service as individual humans, and technology just helps us tremendously.”
According to John McKean, the Assistant Chief of Police for Oceanside, the program will enhance the police department’s crime-fighting capabilities. He said that the drone would be stationed on the roof of City Hall and could reach emergency calls within seconds. The initial area of operation would cover the downtown area west of Interstate 5.
“It’ll be basically in the downtown area there. West of I-5, that’s going to be the area of operation,” McKean said.
During peak hours, the drone will be managed by a pilot based at the department’s newly established Real Time Crime Center, operating around 400 feet above ground level. Authorities anticipate that this drone might evaluate and deem crime scenes safe remotely, thus avoiding the need for sending out patrol cars.
“What we’re looking at is a system positioned high above, providing additional surveillance. This will enable our field supervisors to effectively distribute resources to various areas and ideally resolve incidents even before law enforcement needs to intervene,” explained McKean.
Although drones could be transformative in tackling criminal activities, their usage has sparked significant privacy worries among numerous community members.
According to police statements, following city guidelines, footage obtained from a drone must be kept for one year prior to deletion, unless it needs to be retained beyond this period as part of an ongoing investigation.
“What we have here isn’t arbitrary monitoring; what guarantees this, as per Steve Walter, the Crime Analysis and Intelligence Manager at the Oceanside Police Department, is that each time a drone takes flight or the team springs into action, it’s due to receiving a call for assistance from the community. We utilize these resources specifically to address those requests,” he stated.
The Oceanside Police Department’s initiative mirrors the success of a comparable program launched in Chula Vista back in 2018. From January 2022 through February 13, 2024, the Chula Vista Police deployed drones approximately 9,000 times, equating to an average of about 11 sorties each day during this period.
“Chula Vista led the way in this aspect; we’ve drawn knowledge from their experience,” stated McKean. “We will incorporate the initiatives others have implemented, integrate those ideas into the Oceanside community, and tailor this program to fit our specific needs.”
Should the trial initiative demonstrate success, the Oceanside Police Department aims to broaden the use of drones across the complete 42-square-mile municipality with several unmanned aerial vehicles. The department currently boasts 14 pilots who have received Federal Aviation Administration approval.
McKean stressed that the drone would solely be utilized for valid law enforcement objectives and would adhere to all privacy regulations.
