Police in Washington, DC, begin using drones

The drones add to a growing collection of cameras and footage available to the Washington, D.C. police. All data goes into what district officials called a “real-time crime center” – a command center for live video surveillance that the department opened earlier this year. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Monday praised the center’s impact, saying it helped police quickly arrest two men in connection with a shooting that injured a police captain in May. She said the new technology will build on those advances.

“The bottom line is that drones will help the community and our officers reduce violent crime in the district,” Bowser said. “They will help us solve more crimes and use our limited resources more efficiently.”

Officials said drones and other technological advances could expand the police department’s reach, even as the number of state-sworn police officers in Washington, D.C., is at a half-century low. That hope is giving pause to some local civil rights activists, who say they will not be swayed by authorities’ promises to limit the use of footage.

“We’re not saying law enforcement shouldn’t use technology. We just believe technology should be regulated and there should be a transparent process,” said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of DC.

Hopkins said she wants the city to require government agencies to seek City Council approval and hold public hearings before implementing surveillance technology. Hopkins also said the Washington, D.C. City Council should enshrine limits and accountability measures for the technology in law and be clearer about when police can and cannot record.

With the launch of its drone program, DC joins about 1,500 police departments across the country that are using drone technology to assist in crime investigation and response, officials said Monday. Some departments, including in neighboring Montgomery County, are using “drones as first responders” programs, in which drones are initially sent to the scene of emergency calls to determine whether it is necessary to send officers there.

Police officials said DC would not use drones as first responders at crime scenes, but is exploring the possibility of doing so in the future.

Washington DC officials said they will limit the circumstances under which drones can respond and that drones will only operate within sight of a police officer. They will not use artificial intelligence or facial recognition technology and they will not be used for “general surveillance purposes,” Police Commissioner Pamela A. Smith told reporters on Monday.

“We understand that the use of new technologies can raise privacy concerns, and I want to assure you that we are also focused on protecting the community’s privacy,” Smith said.

The drones could take pictures, Smith said, but only if the police are called to investigate a possible crime or if lawful demonstrations degenerate into “riots” under the First Amendment.

“We monitor and control crowds all the time,” Smith said, “but when a peaceful protest turns into a crime, we can now use the drone to have our ‘eyes in the sky’ to see exactly what is happening in that area.”

Hopkins, of the ACLU in Washington, DC, expressed concern that the use of police drones could have a “chilling effect” on protests, including demonstrations “in Gaza and Palestine, and also on what we can expect in the run-up to this election.”

The footage captured by drones will be treated like other video evidence created during investigations, police said. The agency can release footage, and the public can request drone footage through traditional public records requests. The Washington DC Police Department has also posted regulations and frequently asked questions about the drone program on its website. But Hopkins said regulating drone use should not be the sole responsibility of the police department.

“All of this should not just be in (the Washington DC Police Department’s) general orders that can be changed without public comment, without public participation and without any public accountability measures,” Hopkins said.

Police officials also announced Monday that the department has purchased a Falcon 1 police helicopter, a $6 million investment by the city to replace an older model the department had been using since 2001. The new helicopter is equipped with more modern camera and mapping technology, officials said.

The Bowser administration is focused on increasing the number of cameras police can access across the city, adding 200 CCTV cameras and 47 license plate readers by the end of the year. More Ring doorbell cameras are also being installed on residential streets across Washington, and lawmakers recently increased the amount the city reimburses people who buy such security cameras for their homes and businesses.

On Monday, Bowser thanked the police department for its role in the city’s significant drop in crime this year, after homicides remained at a more than two-decade high in 2023. Homicides are down 22 percent compared to the same time in 2023, and overall crime is down 27 percent, according to department data.