Anti-Shoplifting Drones Give Police New Weapon Against Petty Criminals

A California city is deploying police drones that can beat officers to a crime scene by about 120 seconds.

Chula Vista, a city just south of San Diego, uses the Drone as First Responder (DFR) system to “transmit critical information back to emergency teams in real time, allowing for faster and better-informed decision-making.” 

While the police force uses the drones for a variety of reasons, they have especially been useful in tracking down shoplifters. Chula Vista police launched the drone program in 2018, making it one of the first of its kind in the country and one of 10 agencies the Federal Aviation Administration selected for its original drone pilot program. Since then, the department’s drones have flown more than 25,000 missions and played a role in over 4,000 arrests. 

The Clovis Police Department in California has used the same model to catch shoplifters since 2020. In one case in 2025, a man fled a Walmart with a stolen bicycle, weaving behind nearby businesses. Officials said that without the help of the department’s system, the suspect likely would have gotten away. Officer Ty Wood said the shoplifter “went behind other retail businesses and he would have been lost if it weren’t for the drone.” The drone tracked the suspect, 19-year-old Sean Baker, on a nearby street. 

Wood said the cameras give law enforcement a significant advantage. “We have the ability to see license plates and get physical descriptions of suspects,” he said.

Officers are also able to review live drone footage from their patrol cars while on the way to the scene. 

The drones can aid police by adding descriptions and details to otherwise unclear incidents. In 2023, Chula Vista officers saved a man from a burning car with the help of drone technology. Officers were not able to obtain an exact location from the man, but drones were able to provide officers with exact coordinates. Ultimately, the officers made it to the scene in time to rescue the man from his burning vehicle. 

Federal regulators have cleared the way for the model to spread quickly. The FAA issued 976 waivers between 2018 and 2025, but that number doubled from April 2025 to February 2026, signaling a demand for the new technology across emergency response services. 

Footage from the drones is stored in a private cloud service where police Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage is also stored. The footage is stored for one year or less unless it is categorized as evidence in a crime or formal investigation.