Armed drones, facial-recognition surveillance, and immigration-related drone flights would all be banned under a draft policy the Pasadena Police Department will present to the Community Police Oversight Commission on Thursday, July 9.
The proposal, designated Policy 622, explicitly prohibits weaponizing drones, equipping them with facial recognition or other biometric-identification technology, using them to support immigration enforcement, and deploying them for generalized surveillance, random patrol, or roving monitoring. Drones also could not be used to monitor constitutionally protected speech or assembly unless narrowly tied to a legitimate public-safety purpose, according to the draft.
The policy would still authorize drone flights for specific missions: responding to in-progress crimes, supporting tactical and SWAT operations, documenting crime scenes and traffic collisions, searching for missing or endangered people, and aiding disaster response.
Responding to community concerns
The draft responds to six priority areas that the commission's ad hoc committee laid out in a memo submitted Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Those priorities cover safety, privacy and civil liberties, purpose and use, evaluation and accountability, data security, and transparency and community benefit, according to reporting by Pasadena Now.
The department's response summary stated it agreed with every priority area the commission raised but said some recommendations would be modified for operational reasons.
Privacy and oversight safeguards
On privacy, the draft would bar operators from intentionally recording locations where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy without a warrant or exigent circumstances. Operators would also be required to minimize incidental capture of bystanders near sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals.
Every flight would require a trained Remote Pilot in Command maintaining active human oversight, compliance with Federal Aviation Administration rules, and full documentation of each deployment, according to the draft policy.
The department said it would designate a sworn program coordinator, conduct annual reviews, maintain a public-facing website listing drone deployments, and provide annual reporting consistent with state transparency law.
What happens next
The item is listed as an action item on the commission's agenda, meaning commissioners could vote to recommend the policy or request further revisions at the July 9 meeting. No timeline for a final City Council vote has been announced.
The Community Police Oversight Commission meets at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, in the Council Chambers at Pasadena City Hall, Room S249, 100 N. Garfield Ave. Residents can call (626) 744-7311 or visit cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/ for agenda details.
