Santa Monica police use drones to combat crime

Taking crime fighting to the skies, the Santa Monica Police Department is dispatching drones to help respond to 911 calls, leading to faster response times.

Santa Monica police officers said they get more than 100,000 calls for service a year. So far in 2024, over 1,000 of those calls have been responded to by a drone.

"It is just as versatile as having an officer out in the field," Lt. Erika Aklufi of SMPD said Wednesday. "Except this one can be city-wide within minutes."

About 50 percent of the calls responded to by the drone were in the downtown and beach areas. It has a two-mile view radius.

The drones are piloted by a single officer in a command center in the station. A spotter also assists from the roof of the department.

On July 6, the drone aided in spotting a man burglarizing cars in a parking lot near the pier. The pilot of the drone called for officers to respond, who arrested the man.