{"id":69002,"date":"2025-01-28T17:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T22:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/?p=69002"},"modified":"2025-01-28T17:57:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T22:57:19","slug":"elk-grove-california-police-department-faa-waiver-drones-400-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/elk-grove-california-police-department-faa-waiver-drones-400-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"California police department granted FAA waiver to fly drones at 400 feet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Elk Grove, California, Police Department, on Tuesday announced<\/a> it’s been granted permission by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones at an altitude of 400 feet, beyond the operator’s visual line of sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police department of the Sacramento suburb claims the waiver “represents the largest square miles of approval for law enforcement drone operations in the nation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, drones and other uncrewed aircraft flown in the U.S. must perform operations within sight of the operator, per FAA regulations<\/a>. The administration grants approval to fly beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS, on a case by case basis depending on the risks of the operation, according to a 2024 report<\/a> by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe approval of our BVLOS waiver is a monumental step forward for our DFR Program,” Bobby Davis, Elk Grove’s chief of police, said in a press release. “This advancement reflects our commitment to leveraging innovative technology to enhance public safety while maintaining accountability and transparency in our operations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Elk Grove Police Department launched its “Drone as a First Responder” program in 2024 to deliver real-time video intelligence on emergency response calls, using human visual observers stationed on rooftops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drones allow police officers to track suspects and vehicles involved in ongoing crimes and better manage situational awareness, according to the department’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, former San Francisco Mayor London Breed<\/a> and Police Chief William Scott said in a press briefing<\/a> that drones had been \u201ctransformative\u201d for the city’s police department. They said the technology has led to arrests, criminal charges and decade-low levels of crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil rights groups, meanwhile, have called for increased safeguards<\/a> limiting the use of drones as more police departments use them for a growing number of situations. The American Civil Liberties Union has cited concerns with the potential for passive surveillance and invasions of privacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Elk Grove, California, Police Department has been granted permission to use drones within an exceptionally large area of airspace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":614,"featured_media":62240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_grayscale_images":true,"grayscale_contrast":0,"sponsored_content":false,"display_author_bio":true,"story_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20649],"tags":[44,202,512,514,13110,16805,24700,25131,25132,25378],"people":[],"special-report":[],"authors":[24250],"class_list":["post-69002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emerging-tech","tag-california","tag-emergency-management","tag-drones","tag-police-drones","tag-government-technology","tag-elk-grove","tag-government-policy","tag-technology-news","tag-government-news","tag-police-technology","author-sophia-fox-sowell"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia 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