Woodland Police | Drones
Woodland Police's 2025 military equipment report lists eight DJI aircraft across four models and a deployment table whose totals row counts 174 missions in 2024, from warrants and suspect searches to fireworks complaints, graduations and one planned protest.
At a glance
- DJI Mavic Mini 2
- Quantity 3, $500 each [1]
- DJI Mavic Mini 4
- Quantity 3, $1,660 each [1]
- DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced
- Quantity 1, $6,500 [1]
- DJI Matrice M30T
- Quantity 1, $18,000; "Infrared/ thermal camera" [1]
- Complaints
- "No complaints received." [1]
- Deployments in 2024
- Totals row of the sUAS deployment table: 174 missions, 169 flown under FAA Part 107 [1]
How it happened
- Context
2025 military equipment use annual report
The report's deployment log describes the Yolo County Regional SWAT team serving warrants with Woodland and West Sacramento armored vehicles, K-9, drone and bomb teams, including for Sacramento Police, the DEA and Napa Police, and notes in one entry that "SWAT utilized a drone to clear most of the interior". [1]
What the report says
Woodland Police Department’s 2025 report lists its aircraft: “DJI MAVIC MINI 2, cost: $500 each, quantity: 3.” “DJI Mavic MINI 4, cost: $1660 each, quantity: 3.” “DJI MAVIC 2 ENTERPRISE ADVANCED, cost: $6,500 each, quantity: 1.” “DJI MATRICE M30T, COST $18,000 each, quantity: 1. Commercial UAS platform with up to 55 minutes of flight time, IP45 water/ dust rating, Infrared/ thermal camera”. Page 11 carries a table, “Woodland Police Department sUAS Team Deployments for 2024,” printed as an image, with a row per deployment giving the date, case number, requesting agency, type, missions, location and a mission summary; its totals row reads 174 missions and 169 Part 107 flights. The rows include calls for service, training flights, a “Planned Protest” at Main Street and Second Street on March 26, 2024, fireworks complaints, two high school graduations, and “Neighborhood Santa” operations in December. Its SWAT deployment log is organized around “The Yolo County Regional SWAT team,” which the entries show serving high-risk warrants with Woodland and West Sacramento armored vehicles, K-9, drone and bomb teams. One entry describes a January 2024 warrant for Sacramento Police detectives at a West Sacramento address; another, dated May 30, 2024, says “The Yolo County SWAT team was requested by DEA to serve an Arrest / Search warrant”; a July 11, 2024 entry describes Napa Police reaching “Yolo County Sheriffs” to request the team for a Davis address. In one entry “SWAT utilized a drone to clear most of the interior”. On complaints: “No complaints received.”[1]
What it does not establish
The deployment table is an image; our text extraction does not carry it, so the figures above come from a person on this project reading the page. The department’s drone policy and its footage retention rules were not in the records we read on this pass.
Questions
- What drones does Woodland Police have?
- The 2025 report lists three DJI Mavic Mini 2, three DJI Mavic Mini 4, one DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced and one DJI Matrice M30T with a thermal camera. [1]
- Where are they used?
- The report's deployment log is written around the Yolo County Regional SWAT team, which pools Woodland, West Sacramento and Sheriff's equipment. Entries describe warrants served for Sacramento Police in West Sacramento, for the DEA on a case spanning four counties, and for Napa Police at a Davis address. [1]
What we do not know
- The 2025 deployment table, once the 2026 report is published.
- The department's drone policy and its retention rules for footage.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Yolo County.
What we have documented in Yolo County →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 →Sources
- 1. Woodland Police Department, Military Equipment Use Annual Report 2025 · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
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