San Francisco Police Drone Flight Logs Since May 2024

Records of all San Francisco Police Department small Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (sUAS) deployments from May 16, 2024, to the present month. The dataset is created by FAA-licensed sworn personnel pilots, with flight logs generated for active criminal investigations and vehicle pursuits. Data is reviewed monthly by a program manager and published with privacy controls that generalize incident locations.

Use Cases

• Analyze the frequency of drone deployments for different reasons for flight categories, such as Criminal Investigation or Training/Test.
• Map generalized incident locations (intersections or 100-block level) to identify spatial patterns in SFPD drone usage.
• Study the relationship between flight purposes and the evidentiary value tagging of associated Digital Media Evidence (DME).
• Track the adoption and operational scope of the drone program following the policy change to police radio codes for the reason for flight column in September 2025.

Strengths

• Data collection follows a defined legal and procedural framework under SF Admin Code 96I.2 and is managed by the Strategic Investigations unit.
• Privacy controls are explicitly implemented, including location generalization and the exclusion of incidents involving juveniles.
• The dataset has a clear update process, with the previous month's data uploaded monthly and a documented policy change in September 2025.

Limitations

• Specific data volume metrics such as row count, column count, and file size are unknown.
• Incident locations are generalized to intersections or blocks, limiting precise geospatial analysis.
• The dataset excludes all incidents involving juveniles, which may create a gap in understanding certain law enforcement activities.

Provenance

Source

City of San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department.

Collection Method

Flight logs are generated by FAA-licensed sworn personnel pilots after sUAS deployments for active investigations or pursuits, then reviewed and approved by a program manager for monthly publication.

Time Range

From May 16, 2024, to the present month.

Freshness

Updated monthly; last updated March 15, 2026.

Geography

Primarily San Francisco; locations outside SFPD districts are marked as 'Out of SF' or 'Unknown'.