California has the sixth-highest rate of homelessness in the United States per capita. However, in terms of total individuals, the state has the largest homeless population in the country, with approximately 187,000 unhoused residents. This crisis is largely driven by a severe shortage of affordable housing, particularly in major urban centers such as Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay Area, and San Diego County. Skyrocketing rents and home prices have far outpaced wage growth, leaving many unable to secure stable shelter. Additionally, limited mental health services and high living costs make it especially difficult for vulnerable populations to maintain housing.

With California being a pioneer in how law enforcement agencies utilize drone technology, the state has launched several drone-based trials to address homelessness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego County’s Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) the first FAA-approved police drone program, flew drones over known homeless encampments to provide critical information. The drones broadcasted announcements in English and Spanish to caution individuals to follow pandemic safety guidelines and inform them where they could find resources such as meals and hygiene kits.

Shortly thereafter, the city of San Diego’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) used drones to conduct its annual Point-in-Time Count (PIT). This count is critical for HUD to gain an accurate understanding of homeless populations across the country in order to allocate appropriate resources to the unhoused. Traditionally, these counts are done manually by volunteers, an arduous and often risky undertaking that frequently fails to capture the full scope of the population. However, with the drone’s thermal camera system provided by the CVPD, the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless was able to achieve the most detailed PIT count on record.

Further north in Sacramento County, a new drone program aimed at supporting homelessness response is taking shape. Approximately 526,954 people live in the city of Sacramento, the state’s capital, with roughly 1.61 million residents countywide. As of the 2024 PIT Count, 6,615 people in Sacramento County were experiencing homelessness. Julie Wherry, interim chief probation officer for the county, stated that they had received approval from the Board of Supervisors to purchase drones to help reach homeless individuals who are on probation.

Wherry noted that there are barriers that make it difficult for many unhoused individuals to check in with their probation officers. This new drone program aims to remove those obstacles, ensuring necessary check-ins take place to protect all residents of Sacramento County. She cited the numerous homeless encampments along the American River Parkway as key locations for drone deployment. Rather than requiring individuals to report in person, or having officers physically enter encampments, the drones can safely provide a communication link between officers and those on probation.

The drones will also be used to assess the condition of homeless encampments. This information will allow support teams to determine what resources, such as food, water, hygiene kits, or medication, are needed. However, the initiative has raised concerns about ethics and privacy, with critics questioning the implications for unhoused individuals simply trying to survive. In response, Wherry emphasized that the goal is to enhance community engagement, not hinder it.

The Sacramento County Probation Department has published formal guidelines for the drone program. These stress the importance of FAA Part 107 certification for all operators, full transparency in usage, and the secure handling of collected data. The guidelines also make clear that individual privacy rights must be respected. One section reads, “Officers shall ensure the protection of individual civil rights and the reasonable expectation of privacy prior to and during the deployment of a UAS.”

The policy further prohibits the use of drones to intimidate, harass, or profile individuals or to conduct unauthorized surveillance. It clarifies, however, that “This does not apply in situations where these characteristics are specified and paramount to the identification and/or apprehension of a particular person or group of people that have committed or are committing a certain felony.”

As homelessness continues to challenge communities across California, innovative approaches like drone-assisted outreach represent a new frontier in public service delivery. While the use of aerial technology raises valid concerns about surveillance and civil liberties, programs like Sacramento County’s aim to strike a balance between safety, efficiency, and compassion. If implemented with transparency and accountability, these initiatives could offer a model for how drone technology can be used not to monitor from above, but to reach those society too often overlooks.

Previous Drone News: