Las Vegas police plan to use rooftops across city as drone launchpads
The Metropolitan Police Department plans to use rooftops around the city as launchpads for its fleet of drones by the end of the year.
Dori Koren, an assistant sheriff with Metro, said Wednesday in a news conference that it’s part of the department’s second phase of its drone program, which was announced last year.
The new phase will allow for remote operators to control drones sent out on calls “where someone is requesting police services,” though that could eventually change, Koren said.
“Las Vegas is quickly becoming known as a city for innovation,” Koren said.
“This city has never been afraid to try something new and to show the world what’s possible. We’re pushing the boundaries of innovation.”
Since October, the police department’s officers have been using drones, which some officers store in their vehicles, to help assist in locating suspects.
In that time, Koren said, there have been 169 incidents where suspects were located by drone.
In all since the program started, Koren said, over 1,100 drone “missions” have been flown, which aided in 386 arrests.
During a drone demonstration at Metro’s headquarters in October, drone program manager Steven Oscar said the idea of drone as first responder is a “paradigm shift in police work,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported.
“You can send a drone potentially to a scene or a call for service and (use) that drone to (say), ‘Hey, there’s nothing going on’ or ‘You need more assets’ before anybody even shows up,” Oscar said.
Koren said the second phase of the program will feature “remote” piloting of drones.
“This is where the real leap begins,” Koren said. “Instead of launching drones from patrol officer vehicles, drones will now be placed across the city on police and fire stations in what we call sky ports.”
The plan, Koren said, is for 13 different ports to be located around Las Vegas, with each port housing three drones.
The ports will be on rooftops of police and fire stations, Koren said, though the locations won’t be made public.
‘One of the most advanced’ fleets
In all, Koren said the department has 75 drones at its disposal, which come in six different shapes and sizes. Metro’s fleet of drones, Koren said, is “one of the most advanced in the world.”
The drones are from a company called Skydio, which is based in San Mateo, California.
“This is thanks for a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership with Skydio and the generosity of community donors,” Koren said.
Koren said every drone that leaves a port for a “mission” will be controlled remotely by a “trained operator” from a “centralized location.” Some of the operators, Koren said, will be trained civilians.
Koren said the location of the command center hadn’t been made public as of Wednesday.
He also said the department on Wednesday received word from the Federal Aviation Administration that a specific type of authorization had been granted for Metro to fly the drones in areas normally not available to the general public.
A message to the FAA was not returned Wednesday afternoon.
Concerns about civil liberties
While Metro celebrated its announcement, Jacob Valentine, an attorney for the ACLU of Nevada, said the organization has concerns about privacy.
“I think this is unnecessary,” Valentine said. “This could lead to warrantless searches. These drones could be viewing somebody in their backyard in their pool.”
Koren said Metro will adhere to certain “data retention rules,” including a stipulation where a drone’s camera will be pointed skyward while the craft flies to its targeted destination.
“Still, somebody’s going to be flying this drone to the area, so somebody is going to see what it sees,” Valentine said.
“Essentially, it would be equivalent to an officer saying they don’t need a warrant to walk through your house, but I can walk through it and I’ll just forget about everything I see.”
Valentine said he wouldn’t be surprised if the ACLU becomes involved in future litigation that questions the work of Metro’s drone program.
But Koren said the department strives to protect the public’s privacy.
“It’s important to this agency and to this community that we protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties as we advance these technology projects,” Koren said. “Every flight is logged, audited and tied to an active incident and we have strict policies in place to protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.”
Sheriff Kevin McMahill previously discussed the department’s use of drones to fight crime during his State of the Department address in February.
He announced that almost a dozen drones would be “pre-positioned” in locations across the Las Vegas Valley to help locate and track suspects.
“We want to push the boundaries of innovation, but we want to make sure we do it with public trust in mind,” Koren said. “This is about smarter, faster and safer policing.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.