Hermosa Beach Police Department demonstrates new drone program

The Hermosa Beach Police Department gave a demonstration on the city’s future drone program at a community meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Clark Building.

Manufacturer Skydio joined the demonstration on the city’s future Drone as First Responder program.

The goal is to bring the program to the Hermosa Beach City Council for approval before the end of the year, Capt. Eric Cahalan said during Thursday’s event.

“I would hope,” he said, “sometime at the beginning of 2027 that the drone would be operational.”

The DFR program, police Chief Landon Phillips said, is “going to enhance the police response” and increase safety for the community.

“There is a time for the dispatcher to receive the call, take some basic information, pass that information on to the officer through dispatch or through their computer, and then there’s time for the officer to actually get there,” Phillips said. “Well, with DFR, a lot of that is cut significantly. As we receive the call, as the dispatcher is getting information, we can send a drone to go to that location, get eyes on, and start relaying real-time information to the officers who are responding.”

Funding for the drone program came from U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu’s office to build a Real Time Crime Center. Lieu presented a $963,000 check to the city in April 2025.

The drones “are not going to be used for random surveillance,” Phillips said.

“There are laws, there are policies, there are standards,” he added. “We’re going to keep ourselves accountable, accountable to you, the community.”