West Hollywood Sheriff’s Drone Program Set for Council Vote Next Month

West Hollywood’s drone-as-first-responder pilot program might finally be moving forward after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department finalized a new policy that clears the way for launch, City staff told the Public Safety Commission this week. The program is now set to go before the City Council on June 29. The report and discussion can be viewed in the WeHoTV video clip here and at the bottom of the page.

West Hollywood will be the first station in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to operate under the new policy. The Sheriff’s Department refers to the program as a UAS, or unmanned aircraft system, the department’s standard term for drones. “The intent is to eventually have this program expand department wide,” Danny Rivas, Director of Community Safety, said. “We will be the first station in the entire county with the sheriff’s department to implement this.”

The Delay

The City Council directed staff to implement the program. The discussion dates to August 2023. The program had been on track to launch before last year’s Pride events. Last-minute concerns from the Sheriff’s Department about the absence of a department-wide drone policy forced a pause. “We had a setback, and we had to pause the implementation as a result of some concerns that the Sheriff’s Department communicated to us,” Rivas said. The Sheriff’s Department finalized the new policy on April 9. It replaces a 2024 station-level order with a department-wide framework. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission and the Office of the Inspector General both reviewed the policy before it was finalized.

What Changed

One of the biggest changes involves data retention. Under the 2024 order, drone footage was kept for 30 days unless it had evidentiary value. Under the new policy, flight recordings will be retained for three years, the same as deputies’ body-worn camera footage. The new policy also creates a UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) Operations Unit within the Sheriff’s Department. The new unit will work with West Hollywood Station Captain Fanny Lapkin and her command staff. Deployment authority remains with the watch commander and the station captain, but the new policy requires notification to the UAS Operations Unit within 48 hours of any deployment.

Prohibited Uses

The policy bans several uses. Facial recognition technology – nope. Random surveillance – not happening. And there will be no weapons, lethal or non-lethal, attached to the drones. Asked whether the drone has facial recognition software, Lapkin said “No, not at all.” Another topic on people’s minds — will a drone deployment count as a deputy response to a call for service. The policy says that a drone deployment alone does not constitute a response to a call.

How It Works

The drone is designed to arrive at a scene before a deputy does. Typical calls might include shots fired, robbery in progress, traffic collisions, and prowler reports. It gives responding deputies a live aerial view of the scene before they arrive. The camera will face the horizon while the drone is in transit. It will only rotate downward to record the scene once the drone arrives at a location. The drones will use geofencing to establish flight paths. Lapkin said those corridors will be shaped in part by physical constraints, including buildings, light poles, and trees. “It’s gonna be from the station,” Lapkin said. “Going east, it’ll have a certain flight path to go on that.”

Commission Concerns

Commissioner Brandon Blau said West Hollywood carries particular responsibility as the county’s first test case for the program. “We have an extra special duty, in my view, as commissioners and as a city to provide feedback and oversight where possible into this,” Blau said. Commissioners raised several issues, including questions about ICE. Blau said language about using drones in connection with immigration enforcement, and specifically around abortion clinic visitors, was in the 2024 station order but not the updated policy. Lapkin said existing department-wide policies already address those restrictions. “We already have policies set in place for any contact with our community, that immigration status is not going to be asked,” Lapkin said. “We are not going to work with immigration on any operations.” Rivas said the omission was not an oversight. Those protections exist in other department policies, he said.

Blau also said the 2024 order required quarterly audits and directed that findings be shared with the City. The updated policy replaces that with an annual command inspection process fed internally through the department’s chain of command. Lapkin said weekly and monthly reports will still be submitted to the UAS Operations Unit. Commissioner Kelly Pilarski said an external auditor would provide stronger accountability than an internal review. “There is value in having an outside audit versus an inside audit based on the information that we receive as a city,” Pilarski said. Lapkin said the Civilian Oversight Commission and the Office of the Inspector General can audit the program at any time. “They audit us anytime they wish,” Lapkin said.

What’s Next

The commission moved to carry the item to the next meeting on May 22 as unfinished business, to allow more time for public comment. Two community outreach sessions, one in council chambers and one virtual, were held before the program’s planned 2024 launch. Additional sessions are planned before the June 29 City Council presentation.