Who flies surveillance drones in Butte County?
What we do not know
Butte County Sheriff
- Flight logs, deployments by type, and the annual report figures for 2025 and 2026.
- Whether the Board approved the donated and donation-funded aircraft as the policy requires.
Chico Police
- Deployments by type and the annual report figures required by the policy.
- Whether the proposed 2026 inventory was adopted as listed.
What drones are
An unmanned aircraft carrying a camera, flown by a public agency. Where a state classes drones as military equipment, as California does, a public policy and a governing-body vote are required before an agency uses one.
How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →
What you can do
Civic action
Show up
This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Butte County.
Go to the Butte County hub →Personal protection
Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense ↗