---
title: "LAPD says its drones beat patrol cars to the scene 73 percent of the time"
description: "Nearly a year into a pilot program, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says camera drones sent as first responders reach 911 calls before officers about 73 percent of the time, relaying real-time detail on suspects and weapons and, in one case, finding a missing 5-year-old in five minutes. The department is moving to make the drones permanent, with privacy limits it says the public can verify."
category: "Los Angeles"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles
author: "Desmond Clarke"
published: 2026-07-25T19:48:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-25T19:48:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/lapd-says-its-drones-beat-patrol-cars-to-the-scene-73-percent-of-the-time
tags: ["lapd", "drones", "surveillance", "policing", "los-angeles"]
---
# LAPD says its drones beat patrol cars to the scene 73 percent of the time

Nearly a year into a pilot program, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says camera drones sent as first responders reach 911 calls before officers about 73 percent of the time, relaying real-time detail on suspects and weapons and, in one case, finding a missing 5-year-old in five minutes. The department is moving to make the drones permanent, with privacy limits it says the public can verify.

The Los Angeles Police Department has spent nearly a year quietly sending drones to emergency calls before officers, and its chief now wants to make the practice permanent, [ABC7 reports](https://abc7.com/post/lapd-chief-describes-how-police-have-been-using-drones-first-responders-during-pilot-program/19575629/).

## What the program does

In a "drone as first responder" program, a 911 call triggers a drone to fly to the scene and stream video back to police before, or instead of, a patrol car arriving. Chief Jim McDonnell described the results of the LAPD's pilot: the drones travel up to 42 miles per hour and, he said, "73% of the time they get there before patrol units."

The pitch is information. Before an officer arrives, the drone can show whether a suspect is present and armed, how many people are involved, vehicle descriptions and license plates, and whether someone is preparing to flee. McDonnell offered a sympathetic example: a drone located a missing 5-year-old within five minutes. The pilot is nearing completion, and the department plans to transition the drones to permanent operation.

## The safeguards the department describes

McDonnell was pre-emptive about the obvious concern, which is surveillance. He said the drones "don't record until they get over the call," that cameras turn off when a drone leaves the scene, and that the public can track drone routes and see whether a drone is recording through the LAPD's website. Those are meaningful limits, and the transparency piece, publishing routes and recording status, is more than many agencies offer.

## The question underneath

This is where a story about a helpful gadget becomes a civic one, and it deserves to be framed honestly rather than sold. A camera that arrives before police, sees more than a person on the ground could, and captures license plates and faces is, by any definition, an expansion of aerial surveillance, and "drone as first responder" programs have drawn exactly that criticism in cities across the country from civil-liberties groups. The benefits McDonnell cites are real; so is the concern that a tool justified by missing children and armed suspects tends, over time, to be pointed at more than missing children and armed suspects.

The safeguards matter precisely because they are the whole ballgame. A program that records only over an active call and shuts off afterward is a narrower thing than one that flies and watches continuously, and whether the LAPD's version stays the former depends on rules, oversight and enforcement, not on the technology, which can do either. Making the pilot permanent is the moment those rules get set.

The Herald reports both the capability and the trade-off without resolving it: the LAPD says its drones save time and find people, and expanding aerial police surveillance over Los Angeles is a decision worth the public's attention, not just its convenience. We will follow how the permanent program is structured, and what limits, if any, are written into law rather than left to the department's own policy.

## Sources

- [LAPD chief describes how police have been using drones as first responders](https://abc7.com/post/lapd-chief-describes-how-police-have-been-using-drones-first-responders-during-pilot-program/19575629/)