Law enforcement drones are now so widespread across San Diego County that the question is no longer whether police are watching from above, but how often, under what rules, and with whose consent.
According to a new investigation by iNewSource, nearly every major law enforcement agency in San Diego County operates drones, with fleets ranging from a handful of units to more than 70 aircraft under the control of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. Programs once described as experimental are now routine, and in cities like Chula Vista and Oceanside, drones are being dispatched to 911 calls before officers ever arrive.
This rapid normalization raises a constitutional tension that American law has not fully resolved. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches, yet courts have historically struggled to define what constitutes a search when surveillance happens in public airspace. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1986 decision in California v. Ciraolo held that police observation from a plane flying at 1,000 feet did not violate privacy expectations. But drones fundamentally change that calculus. They are cheaper, persistent, mobile, quiet, and capable of high-resolution zoom, thermal imaging, and long-term monitoring. What once required a helicopter, a warrant, and a large budget can now be done with a backpack and a joystick…