The Santa Maria Police Department launched its drones program a few years ago in order to improve officer safety, diagram large crime scenes, and deploy during search and rescue operations, Cmdr. Jesse Silva told the Sun.
“It’s just a piece of technology. We constantly look at better, safer ways to do things, and technology is a huge part of that. We weren’t the first department to start this—this has been used with a lot of departments across the nation,” Silva said.
The Santa Maria Police Department was scheduled to go before the City Council on July 18—after the Sun went to press—in order to receive a $97,869 donation from the Santa Maria Police Council and purchase new drones with improved stability and infrared systems, he said.
“The new stability system on board can hover without any input from the pilot. Our current drones, the tactical drones, actually have to be flown at all times,” Silva said. “The infrared is unbelievable. The ability that it has when you’re doing large area searches, like looking for someone in the riverbed at night, it’s a game changer.”
Any donation of more than $25,000 needs to be accepted by the City Council before the department can receive any dollars coming from outside of the city’s budget, Silva said. If the council approves the donation, the Police Department can purchase the new drones in less than a month.
“The units themselves are very expensive, but if we are looking for a man with a gun in a building, we will send in a drone 10 times out of 10 to confront the individual. Officers cannot be replaced, but drones can,” he said.
According to the city staff report, the new technology will reduce training time for operators and increase the drone program’s capabilities. The department currently has 10 pilots in the drone program and has eight drones.
“The equipment includes an overwatch drone and upgraded drones that, together, have capabilities that will greatly enhance the safety of operations, including high-risk interior and exterior SWAT operations, area searches, and crime scene and traffic collision diagramming,” according to the staff report.
The report added that the Santa Maria Police Council, a nonprofit organization, has been purchasing safety materials, equipment, and supplies for the Police Department that are out of the city’s budget since its formation in 2007.
Laurie Tamura, Santa Maria Police Council president, told the Sun that the nonprofit has helped purchase dogs for K-9 units, new Tasers for every officer, crime lab equipment, and drone pilot training. According to the council’s website, it’s donated more than $1.5 million to the department throughout the years.
The funding comes from the council’s annual golf tournament and comedy night dinner, an effort to raise money from the community to support the Police Department, Tamura said.
“We’ve provided drones in the past, and this is an upgrade to the current drone system they have,” she said. “I think they’ve already proven themselves very successful, and we want to continue taking advantage of technology for the safety of the officers and the community.”
This article appears in Jul 20-30, 2023.
