Lancaster leaders credit new hybrid police model, AI and drones for sharp crime declines and secure $2 million violence-prevention grant

Mayor (recorded in the transcript as 'Paris' and later as 'Perez') and law-enforcement leaders delivered a progress report to the Lancaster City Council on the city’s hybrid policing model, new technologies and a recently awarded violence-prevention grant.

The mayor said the city created a hybrid department to supplement the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and bring local control over staffing and technology. “We now have the Lancaster Police Department with very experienced officers,” the mayor said, adding the city deployed tools intended to make neighborhoods safer. He told the council that in 2023 Lancaster was the only comparably sized city he knew “with a 100% solve rate of the homicides.”

A Lancaster law-enforcement speaker identified in the transcript by references as Rod described the partnership as two agencies working together and highlighted the city’s camera network, an intelligence center and a drone program. “We’ve got this up quickly, and it is a game changer,” Rod said of the intel center; of drones, he said: “The drones, when they hear a gunshot, will launch and be over that gunshot within 90 to 120 seconds.”

Council members and the station’s captain credited those tools and targeted operations for measurable decreases in crime. The captain reported a 15% reduction in Part I crimes and singled out large drops in vehicle thefts (about 40%) and thefts from vehicles (about 37%), and said gang-related shootings were down about 56%. “The biggest one is the 15% reduction in Part I crimes in Lancaster,” the captain said. He also said Lancaster Station deputies recovered 585 firearms in 2025, with 368 booked as evidence in criminal offenses.

Speakers detailed enforcement against illegal grow operations, unlicensed care homes and smoke shops; the city has been working with multiple agencies, including state and federal partners, on those investigations. The law-enforcement speaker said specialized teams and cross-agency operations recovered narcotics, firearms and evidence in major cases and described the Landcap team’s arrests and search-warrant activity.

The council was also told the city applied for and received a California Community Violence Intervention and Prevention grant. “We are one of three entities that received it. That’s $2,000,000 coming to this city,” a law-enforcement speaker said, describing funds to support intervention work and youth programming tied to the sheriff partnership.

Officials urged residents to engage through the city’s criminal justice commission and neighborhood-watch programs and to report suspicious activity. In response to audience questions, officials said an app and an automated workflow are in development that would link ShotSpotter, license-plate readers and other sensors to deployments; a staff presentation to the criminal justice commission was scheduled for the week following the meeting.

The presentation closed with appreciation for interagency cooperation and a reminder that council-directed staffing increases are underway: the council has directed the department to hire 14 additional officers and four sergeants, officials said.

Next steps noted at the meeting included public outreach through the criminal justice commission and continued roll-out of the technology and staffing changes funded and implemented by the city.