Publicly available flight data has exposed the Los Angeles Police Department using its emergency drone programme to conduct aerial surveillance of anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests, raising urgent civil liberties questions about a tool the department pitched as a life-saving public safety resource.
Records analysed by software engineer and flight data researcher John Wiseman show the LAPD deployed itsDrone as First Responder (DFR) fleetat least 31 times over a January anti-ICE demonstration and 32 times over the March 'No Kings' rally, with surveillance beginning hours before any dispersal order was issued.
The programme, sold to city commissioners and the public as a privacy-conscious emergency response tool, carries an explicit assurance on the LAPD's own website that it 'prioritises the protection of individual privacy.' That assurance now sits in direct conflict with what the flight data shows.
The LAPD launched its DFR pilot programme in June 2025, partnering withSkydio, a California-based drone company that began as a consumer hardware startup and has since repositioned itself as a supplier of militarised systems to the US Army, Israeli Defence Forces, and domestic law enforcement agencies.
The deal was funded in part by a £1.61 million ($2.1 million) donation approved unanimously by the Los Angeles Police Commission on 10 February 2026, channelled through the Los Angeles Police Foundation. Combined with a separate £1.38 million ($1.8 million) retail theft grant, the city committed roughly £2.99 million ($3.9 million) to a three-year Skydio contract covering drones, docking stations, warranties, and service support.
Flight records show that Los Angeles police dispatched drones 32 times over last month’s No Kings rally.https://t.co/aYCGPPEwxa
The fleet uses the Skydio X10, a drone Skydio says is capable of detecting a person from more than 8,000 feet away and identifying an individual from more than 2,500 feet. It can also read vehicle licence plates from 800 feet. Skydio CEO Adam Bry has previously demonstrated how two operators using the company's DFR Command software can control eight drones simultaneously, tracking licence plates and automatically pursuing people of interest.
At the 10 February 2026 Commission meeting, the LAPD's Police Officer Darren Castro told commissioners that Skydio 'has no rights in this period for trial and moving forward to control those data captures and what goes into the cloud.' Several members of the public who attended that meeting said they feared the programme would be used for surveillance beyond its stated emergency mandate. 'It's not just mission creep, it's creepy,' one commenter said.
Flight records from the publicly accessibleSkydio flight dashboardshow LAPD drones were launched at least 31 times over the 31 January 'ICE Out' protest in downtown Los Angeles, which drew thousands of demonstrators marching against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. The demonstration was described as mostly peaceful, though police later fired tear gas at protesters who refused a dispersal order after nightfall.
At the 28 March 'No Kings' rally against the Trump administration, city data shows the LAPD again launched drones 32 times in the area where the protest was taking place. A heat map visualisation created by Wiseman from that data shows the drones lingered for extended periods over the Metropolitan Detention Center and the intersection of North Central Avenue and East Temple Street in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo neighbourhood.
Source: International Business Times UK
