Yolo County Sheriff | Drones
The Sheriff's military equipment report for October 2024 through September 2025 states 51 drone deployments and lists the office's DJI aircraft by model. The Board of Supervisors approved the office's military equipment use policy and ordinance in November 2022 and took up the renewal in December 2025.
At a glance
- Deployments in the 2024-25 report
- "51 total drone (UAS) deployments" [1]
- Deployment figures the report states
- Nine lines: 20 locating suspicious subjects or suspects; 31 in-progress crimes, incidents or emergencies; 13 search and arrest warrants; 4 search and rescue or missing persons; 1 probation or parole search; 11 assisting outside agencies; 4 special events; 1 documenting the recovery of a derelict vessel; 2 looking for evidence [1]
- Aircraft listed in the 2024-25 report
- 2 DJI Mini 3, 6 DJI Mini 2, 4 DJI Mavic Enterprise Advanced, 3 DJI Mavic 3 Thermal, 1 DJI Matrice 300 RTK, 2 DJI Avata [1]
- Complaints reported
- "No complaints were received" [1]
- Policy or law violations reported
- "No violation of policy or law" [1]
- Governing ordinance
- Ordinance No. 1555; the December 2025 item states that the office "obtained Board approval of its military equipment use policy and a related ordinance on November 8, 2022" [3]
- Drone purchase in the 2022 request
- "Unmanned Aircraft System (Drone) in the amount of $52,814" [2]
- Which aircraft the 2022 money bought
- the agenda item names no model, and no record we fetched connects it to a specific airframe in the current inventory [2] [1]
- Community engagement meeting after publication
- we did not find a date for one in the records we fetched
How it happened
- Procurement
Board item seeks a drone purchase
The Sheriff's item, titled "Purchase of Computer Voice Stress Analyzer and Drone for Management," covers the "purchase of a CVSA Machine in the amount of $10,852 and Drone in the amount of $52,814." [2]
- Decision
Board approves the military equipment use policy and ordinance
The December 2025 agenda item states that "The Sheriff's Office obtained Board approval of its military equipment use policy and a related ordinance on November 8, 2022." The 2022 item itself was not among the records we read; the date rests on the later item reciting it. [3]
- Decision
Renewal of the ordinance and the annual report go to the Board
The Sheriff's item asks the Board to "Receive, file and accept public comments and questions regarding an annual report, prepared pursuant to AB 481 (2022)" and to "Approve the renewal of Ordinance No. 1555." [3]
How it was paid for
The Sheriff’s agenda item of May 24, 2022, titled “Purchase of Computer Voice Stress Analyzer and Drone for Management,” covers the “purchase of a CVSA Machine in the amount of $10,852 and Drone in the amount of $52,814,” which it also writes as an “Unmanned Aircraft System (Drone) in the amount of $52,814.” The item names no model.[2]
What governs it
County Counsel put the office’s draft military equipment use policy before the Board on April 26, 2022, as an item to “Receive and file the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office draft military equipment use policy.”[4] The Sheriff’s December 9, 2025 item states that the office “obtained Board approval of its military equipment use policy and a related ordinance on November 8, 2022,” and asks the Board to “Receive, file and accept public comments and questions regarding an annual report, prepared pursuant to AB 481 (2022)” and to “Approve the renewal of Ordinance No. 1555.”[3] AB 481 is the state law that requires a law enforcement agency to get its governing body’s approval for a military equipment use policy and to report on that equipment each year.
What the agency says
The report covering October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 states “51 total drone (UAS) deployments using a DJI Matric 300 RTK, DJI Enterprise Advanced, DJI Mini 2, DJI Mini 3 and a DJI Mavic 3 Thermal.” It then lists the deployments by purpose: “20 instances: Locating suspicious subjects or suspects. 31 instances: In-progress crimes, incidents, or emergencies. 13 instances: Search and arrest warrants. 4 instances: Search and rescue or missing persons. 1 instance: Probation or parole search. 11 instances: Assisting outside agencies. 4 instances: Special events (e.g., Yolo County Fair, Almond Festival, Pearl Harbor Memorial) 1 instance: to document the recovery of a derelict vessel 2 instances: to assist in looking for evidence” (as printed, without separating punctuation). Its inventory lists two DJI Mini 3, six DJI Mini 2, four DJI Mavic Enterprise Advanced, three DJI Mavic 3 Thermal, one DJI Matrice 300 RTK and two DJI Avata aircraft. The report states “No complaints were received” and “No violation of policy or law.”[1]
What it does not establish
The report is the office’s own account, filed with the Board. It does not say how the four category figures relate to the total it states. It does not give locations, flight durations, or how long recorded imagery is kept, and it does not connect the aircraft it lists to the 2022 purchase. The community engagement meeting that follows publication of an annual report has no date in the records we fetched.
Questions
- How many drones does the Yolo County Sheriff's Office have?
- The 2024-25 military equipment annual report lists 2 DJI Mini 3, 6 DJI Mini 2, 4 DJI Mavic Enterprise Advanced, 3 DJI Mavic 3 Thermal, 1 DJI Matrice 300 RTK and 2 DJI Avata aircraft. [1]
- How often are they flown?
- The report states "51 total drone (UAS) deployments" for October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025, and lists nine lines by purpose, from 31 for in-progress crimes, incidents or emergencies and 20 for locating suspicious subjects or suspects down to single flights for a probation search and for documenting a derelict vessel. Four flights were for special events the report names as the Yolo County Fair, the Almond Festival and the Pearl Harbor Memorial. [1]
- Have there been complaints?
- The report states "No complaints were received" and "No violation of policy or law" for the reporting period. It is the office's own report to the Board. [1]
What we do not know
- The purchase record behind the 2022 request, including which model the $52,814 bought.
- How the report's nine purpose lines relate to its stated total of 51 deployments.
- How long imagery is kept under Policy 611, which this pass did not read in full.
- The date of the community engagement meeting the annual reporting cycle calls for.
- The current drone policy text, and how long imagery is kept.
What you can do
Show up
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Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Yolo County Sheriff's Office, Military Equipment Use Annual Report, October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 · Primary document · accessed · archived copy · our copy (135 KB)
- 2.
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- 4.
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