City officials brief subcommittee on Phoenix drone program: training, uses and transparency

Phoenix city officials outlined April 2 how the city’s unmanned aircraft systems program is being used across multiple departments for emergency response, public-safety support and communications while stressing training and transparency measures.

The update to the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee covered work by Phoenix Fire, Phoenix Police, Parks and Recreation, and the city’s communications office. Fire UAS program manager Daniel Cheatham described drones as a “force multiplier” that “keeps our firefighters and our residents more safe,” saying the fire program launched in June 2022 and now operates seven days a week with 10 pilots and three visual observers.

Police Commander Christie Calderon told the subcommittee the Police Department’s UAS program was approved by council in February 2022, began operating in November 2022 and expanded into a patrol response program in January 2024. Calderon said the department now has 28 pilots (16 specialty support and 12 patrol support) and averages about 50 drone-related calls a month in the last year. She also described a “drone as a first responder” model that can launch to a 911 scene to provide live imagery to officers and command staff.

Parks and Recreation deputy director Jared Rogers said the department began UAS flights in September 2023 and has used drones for trail inspection, cultural-resource monitoring, invasive-species detection and revegetation monitoring. Ashley Patton, deputy communications director, said the communications office joined the UAS program in January 2024 and uses drones primarily for proactive and on-request videography — “beauty shots,” construction progress and promotional footage — and forecasts about two flights per month in 2025.

Officials described common safeguards and standards across departments: all pilots hold FAA Part 107 certifications, city-specific task books or flight competencies, and continuing education. Cheatham said the Phoenix Fire Department requires pilots to complete a PFD UAS flight task book and annual continuing education; Calderon said police pilots receive an additional 40 hours of training and quarterly core training focused on permissible operations, including Fourth Amendment considerations.

Deployment examples included tethered drones on fire command vehicles (deployed without FAA waivers and used for extended on-scene monitoring), a fire response vehicle (“Drone 1”) that carries multiple drone types including thermal cameras, and police uses at demonstrations, large events and burglary or search missions. Cheatham said tethered units are placed on command vehicles in specific council districts to provide persistent vantage points.

Officials noted public transparency efforts. A staff member told the subcommittee the city publishes flight-level data and policy information on a public website and an open-data portal that lists purpose and timing for individual flights; members asked staff to include more operational data in future briefings, including call types and outcomes by month.

Chairman Robinson and Vice Mayor O’Brien asked for more detailed operational metrics at a future briefing, including breakdowns of call types and outcomes and staffing metrics that would help evaluate program impacts on response times and officer/firefighter safety.