Palm Springs police report 319 drone uses, plan future request for new armored vehicle

The Palm Springs Police Department used drones on approximately 319 incidents in 2025 and deployed armored vehicles 28 times, according to an annual military equipment report presented to the City Council last week.

The report, required under Assembly Bill 481, a 2021 state law mandating public oversight of law enforcement military equipment, covers calendar year 2025 and includes usage data, equipment costs and complaint records for all qualifying items in the department’s inventory.

Drones were the most frequently deployed equipment category in 2025, used for purposes that included aerial evidence collection, missing-person searches, monitoring of at-large suspects, overwatch at large-scale events and disaster response, the report states.

The department’s two armored vehicles — a 2006 BearCat and a larger, 2017 BEAR — were deployed a combined 28 times. The BEAR’s attachable breaching apparatus was used on 14 separate occasions in support of SWAT and patrol operations.

A police robot was used three times during the year, and light sound diversionary devices — commonly called flashbangs — were also used three times. Assault weapons, chemical agents and 40mm projectile launchers were each reported as used zero times.

The department recorded zero complaints and zero policy violations across all listed equipment categories for the period from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025.

The department’s Mobile Incident Command Vehicle, a 2004 Freightliner, was not used during the year. The report notes the vehicle has been decommissioned and is pending sale as surplus, and that it will not appear in future inventory reports.

The 2025 report also reflects an expansion of the department’s drone fleet. The current inventory includes four DJI Matrice 4TD drones with thermal and multi-sensor imaging capabilities, along with four DJI Dock 3 automated launch and recovery stations, purchased through a Board of State and Community Corrections grant.

The report signals the department intends to ask the City Council in 2026 for approval to purchase a new BearCat armored vehicle, though delivery would not be expected until approximately 2028.

AB 481, signed into law in September 2021, requires law enforcement agencies to obtain governing body approval of military equipment use policies and to submit annual public reports covering usage, costs, complaints and any policy violations. The City Council adopted an ordinance in June 2022 establishing the department’s military equipment policy.

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