>> good morning and thank you for being here. before i start i want to introduce our mayor london breed, our lieutenant tom mcguire. [indiscernible] assistant chief of operations, lazar and president of our police officer association mccray. thank you all for being here and attending the press conference this morning. first of all, we are here to talk about something very exciting to us and that's the introduction of our drone program in the san francisco police department. before i go further, i like to give thanks to our mayor, london breed and our da for being here, because

it is her leadership that got us here and proposition e voters passed in march. excited to anounss sfpd successfully launched our drone program and this is all thanks to our mayor. drones have truly been a game changer for the police department. think of this, we have been without air support over 24 years since the early 2000 and the officers have tremendous technology at their finger tips other law enforcement agencies regularly use. drones offer major benefits that the captain and lieuten want will discuss shortly. benefits include, faster response times, situational awareness, tactical tools, more precision, de-escalation, more information to formulate a plan, officer safety enhanced, avoiding in necessary police chases and integration with technology such as cameras we are putting up around the city as

we speak. this is truly a force multiplayer and really in light of all our staffing shortages, this could not have come at a better time. our first phase of the drone program included the purchase of 6 drones with more on the way. drones already assisted sfpd in numerous cases including a sexual assault suspect, automobile burglary, 4th of july may hame able to de-escalation and bring to successful and peaceful resolution very quickly, much quicker then previous years, and we also arrested violent and wanted fugitives with help of the drone tech nalg. we have policies in place to insure drones are use said reasonably and responsibility with safeguards to protect the public. all the drone opraerts have

certification and we plan to increase the use of drones in the months to come to continue to drive down crime in san francisco. we integrating drones with other technology such as the alpr cameras and public safety cameras to effective and efficiently respond to crime. crime is down in san francisco. it is down lower then it has been in the past decade and with drones we think we can enhance that more. our officers are working very very hard to make sure that this city is the safest city in america and we will continue this trend with the help of drones. our violent crime is down 12 percent, prairpt crime is down 35 percent, and again, i have to give thanks to our leader of our city, mayor breed for making this all happen. and now, without further ado, i will introduce mayor london breed.

>> thank you chief scott and thank you to our district attorney brooke jenkins, the pla president lieutenant tracey mccray and others from the san francisco police department joining us today. this partnership didn't just happen. it happened because we worked together. it all started when last year i had a opportunity to visit a number of our stations in san francisco, our police stations and i had conver sations with many officers directly. the feedback time and time again is, we want to do our jobs, but we need more tools to do a better job for the people of san francisco, and they would talk to me about technology and how other jurisdictions were using this technology and how effective it was. last year in october, we got together and we made an announcement based on that feedback, proposition e was born. and we were add alamo square

where we know is a notorious place for car break ins. we stood there to talk specifically about using technology, not just drone technology, pbut surveillance technology and giving offices the tool they need in reportings are cameras that can allow them to not only spend more team on the streets but effectively do the job of police work that as the chief has mentioned, leads to better and safer results. and i couldn't be more happy that the technology that we are finally putting out there, whether it is the flock cameras which are also known as license plate readers and the surveillance technology that will also be out there on the streets of san francisco to these drones. this is a game-changer and i must say that, i didn't think it would be as impactful as it has been. it has been a game-changeer for

our city. last year san francisco saw the lowest crime rate we have seen in 10 years, not including the pandemic. this year we are even 34 percent lower then we were in 2023 and this technology has been a real game-changeer. we are excited about what this means. we are talking about people who are committing crimes in our city, who are not arrested in days but arrested in hours, and having this technology has added additional value. but despite this technology, i appreciate the fact that this department has been working really hard on the retail theft operation, the bait car operation and with this new technology we have a tool to combat issues plaguing our city and they are seeing early results. we will see more and more change as a result of this. but i want to be very clear, when you cross those lines here in san francisco, there will be

consequences. i appreciate our district attorney because she is prosecuting those cases rchlt but we have not abandon values of giving people second chances, providing a robust amount of programs that get people on the right path and working with organizations and communities in order to help people. once those lines are crossed, we have a job to do. to protect public safety in this city and now with these technology tools, it is a game-changeer and more importantly, there is more to come. this is only the beginning, the results are already showing very promising impacts in our department, and i am looking forward to see more as we roll out, as i said earlier, more surveillance technology, training more of our officers to be certified and use drone technology and making sure that we are taking advantage of every opportunity to keep the entire city of

san francisco safe, so we are really excited about this and looking forward for more to come. >> thank you mayor. now we'll hear from captain chris and lieutenant tom mcguire. before we start, let me thank them for their leadership. proposition e passed in march, and the speed in which we have gotten this program together and actually procured a drone, it goes beyond the police department, but it is really instrumental that these two gentleman along with assistant chief lazar and many others in the department, their leadership made this happen. before i turn it over to them, i also want to thank the other city departments, including our contract administration from the mayor's and the mayor's office staff and many others who have really did this with speed unheard of in our city, so the sense of urgency is the point i'm try

toog make here. we have a sense of urgency to make this a safe city and do the things in the city the people deserve and that sense of urgency is the reason we are here now, not even 6 months after the proposition passed. we launched the drone program. with that, i'll turn it over to captain dellgandio and lieutenant mcguire. >> thank you chief. good morning. i'm crist, the commanding officer of strategic investigation unit. myself along with lieutenant tom mcguire over see the drone bram. we'll share success stories with you. this is from july 4, obviously. fireworks a major issue in our city. we are able for the first time to get a drone up overhead and get a

visual observation on the ground without putting officers in danger. while this footage was being streamed to us, we are able to come up with a strategic plan to get officers in place and disrupt this activity. as you will see you will see the officers move in and disrupt the fireworks being set and--chases folks out of there to create a safe environment for folks in the neighborhood. we are able to de-escalate the situation because we had a visual observation what was going on from overhead. again, as you can see, the fire works stopped and the folks dispersed. >> [indiscernible] it is very

difficult [indiscernible] with this tool it enhanced our ability. [indiscernible] drone operators in there bay area and he is able to maintain the footage and we were able to coordinate resources on the ground and [indiscernible] embarcadero and we are able to do this in a safe effective efficient manner. without the drone it is nearly impossible [indiscernible] very successful. the next day, that happened friday night, this was the next night, saturday night and [indiscernible]

stolen vehicle, stolen plates. [indiscernible] alerted us to the area and some of the officers spotted it out in the area with these individuals [indiscernible] situational awareness and we are able to coordinate with resources on the ground. [indiscernible] prevent dangerous pursuit and able to get all the luggage back. they were very pleased and tried to get everything back intact and we had a lot of success. with this tool the officers are able to be safe and efficient and successful early in the game. again, [indiscernible] >> thank you captain and thank you.

now i like to introduce to our district attorney, brooke jenkins. >> thank you chief and i like to thank the police department and our mayor london breed for working together to make this possible. what you just saw is the wave of the future and sadly san francisco had been far behind the curve in having the technology that we need as a city to make sure that we can curb crime. and so i just appreciate the two of them working together to make sure san francisco as a city has what it needs to not only react once a crime is committed, but hopefully have a system that ultimately begins to deter future crime, because thats what we want, fewer victims of vime in our city and this is the beginning of able to send a message that if you do things in our city that are illegal you will be caught. a part why i'm here is to announce that the two-second and third video you saw resulted in a arrest, but

resulted in charges filed by my office against the individuals who participated in the auto-burglaries. we have to look at the steps of the process, so yes we want to arrest and also want to have the evidence we need as a da office to file charges against the individuals to hold them accountable and as a result that arrest and footage we were able to file auto-burb burglary charges and two are repeat offenders. as a trial lawyer, jurors in 2024 expect to see what happened. they dont just want to be told by a police officer what they saw or what their perspective is, they would prefer to have the ability to independently evaluate the evidence in a case, and as you just saw, this is going to be key evidence that my prosecutors can use in the courtroom to not only

establish for the jury that the correct person was arrested, identity wise and convey and demonstrate to them the specific conduct that occurred and who is responsible for. that is why i have been supportive of the use of this technology from the very beginning because as prosecutors we have to know we are prosecuting the right person, and also be able to prove that in court and this technology will be essential in allowing us to do so. again, i commend the san francisco police department for not being a bureaucratic agency that took months to figure out not only how to get and acquire this technology but how to use it. thank you for being on top of things and getting right to it and helping work together and i think that's also the message today, no longer do we have divided leadership in the city, we are all on the same page where we want san francisco to go and that is to be a safer city for its residents

and for its visitors and business owners and we are on our way there. thank you. >> thank you da jenkins. in closing to sum up what you heard here today,b two of the three incidents we showed you involved people breaking into cars, which plagued our city for decades. as we speak today, we are 56 percent down in car break-ins. about 5700 or so car break-ins this time last year, well over 13,000. this technology is only as good as the people who are willing to use it and effectively and fairly, and all thanks for the use of this technology goes to the people in front of you. the lieutenant and captain and sergeant and also the officers, because they have embraced this and as the mayor said, they asked for it, they embraced and are putting to good use. we believe, we believe with all our hearts this is the

game-changeer we told you it and is and crime it is low we haven't seen in over a decade that we can continue to do crime and drive it down further. director crime strategy ryan in the room. ryan please raise your hand. we have to be strategic what we do and how we use the technology and director and his team are part of strategy to make sure we are using this effective and in a way that meets your approval, the people of san francisco and also make sure we can continue to drive crime down. as i said earlier, we have a sense of urgency here and we are taking this extremely serious and we believe this is a game-changeer of technology so thank you mayor, thank you da and everybody here and we'll open this up for questions. >> quick question, my understanding in had the history of san

francisco aerial support unit [indiscernible] what are some of the risks using drones--it is obvious because some cities don't realize san francisco doesn't have a helicopter support program. can you talk about the risk of aerial support from drones [indiscernible] >> well, there are risks with any piece of equipment. drones can crash. the technology is very advanced. some of our technology has collision avoidance technology where it is all most impossible to crash into anything. you also we have to comply with f a a rules. there is flight patterns we have to be concerned with, but those things thank tuesday the diligence of our team, we have done a lot of research and looked at policies and counties and cities around us. done field trips to other cities, so we believe we have taken the risks into account and policy reflect that.

we two unit orders and we believe we have taken that into account. there is always risk with equipment but drones are fairly safe. not unlike a helicopter, if a drone crashes it could cause injury, but you are not investing nearly as much in the equipment. you are talking about few thousand dollars if that as opposed to 7 figures or more for a helicopter and i believe in helicopters, but short that, this technology is really really what we need. >> can you give [indiscernible] deployment. are these officers staged around problematic areas in the city and that is where you are deploying these drones or how do you respond quickly? >> the investigation of crime. prop d calls for, if we can use in pursuit, mitigating pursuit. one of the cases you just saw, we were able to avoid a pursuit because officers were able to

strategically put the spike strips down, so when the suspects tried to run, they couldn't. that is what it is all about. we want to prevent as much as we can crime and pursue suited from occurring, but in the event we can't prevent them, it is effective and the bottom line is apprehend the people doing the crimes. we use for investigation of people doing crime and at the end of the pursuit or some situations maybe during the pursuit. if it meets the specification what the drone is capable of and that's what the proposition called for and how we have been deploying. >> [indiscernible] problematic areas around those zones? >> it is driven by the investigations. as lieutenant mcguire pointed out, one case you just saw started with the flock alpr alerting the stolen vehicle is driving around the vehicle,

the officer spotted the vehicle and the drone saw the vehicle and able to see committing more crime and apprehended them. that is how effective the drones can be. >> [indiscernible] this violates state law, ab41 about notification on surveillance technology? >> we don't believe we areviting state law at all. we believe we are in compliance with state law. we submitted a ordinance to board of supervisor june 3, the ordinance is still pending. state law and city and county ordinances, we have a year basically to put this program in place and then that will be evaluated and approved, so when the next year's 481 report comes, this will be in it because we report for the previous year. we believe we are in total compliance with state law. >> for those concerned about privacy issues, to verify these drones are not surveilling passively.

that is my first question. i also have a question about how long the video is stored once that video is captured and where is it stored? >> yes, servers are secure and as far as the drone policy, we do have a retention. if it is first amendment type of thing that is up necessitating the deployment of drowns because of crowd management and crowd control situations. unless there is crimes committed we don't store and save that. if it is a criminal situation like what the da spoke about, we save until the crime and case and resolved. other is it--30 days. 30 days we purge the information, unless we can tie it to a crime. >> the drones are not passively surveilling and not just launched to watch over, unless there is a [indiscernible] >> that's correct. we are not just hovering drones over the city just for unknown

purpose. when we deploy these drones it is connected to a criminal investigation and or some critical incident like you saw on the 4th of july with fireworks, that situation was getting out of control very quickly. those type of situations we deploy. we dont just passively fly around looking for something. there are specific mission focused on specific crime or critical incident. >> two more questions. [indiscernible] recent complaints that surfacing about the new foot pursuit policy? >> it will be helpful for sure. we don't have the benefit or did not have the benefit of having aerial support, and especially in a foot pursuit when you are trying to set up a perimeter. that is a game changer. i use that word but it is true, because what happens when you don't have that type of support, you are much quicker to go into apprehension mode.

you try to chase the person till you catch them. when you have the luxury of aerial support you can slow things down, you can set up the perimeter and these drones are very effective in terms of doing that. the operators know what they are looking for, we get the perimeter set, it is safer all around and effect ive and it is big deal. we believe it enhances our foot pursuit policy. >> how much is this program overall cost the city? >> i had that right now. i think we are-- let's see-- >> we'll get that for you.

>> yeah. yeah, so total cost so far has been $35 thousand. and that--in our budget this year, thanks to the board and mayor we plan to purchase more, so that cost will go up as we purchase drones. >> last thing from the drone conversation, there is claims made that in regards to-all the encampments being cleared right now that there has been people arrested or jailed. is there-can you comment on that or is there uptick of arrests or anything like that? >> is this a drone question or separate? >> separate. >> okay. let me just say this, even though it is not a drone question, our officers have been instructed to support the law. now the supreme court made their

decision we put out department notice what we can and can't do, what we can enforce, which is the law, so the officers have been instructed to do that. we want a clean safe city and that's a part of it. >> thanks for coming out.

[music] hi. i'm san francisco mayor london breed i want to congratulate sfgovtv on 30 years of dedicated service as a broadcast channel for our vibrant city. you played a critical role

during the pan dem and i can worked keep residents informed. adapted to changing situations that allowed our residents to engage and participate in government. thank you for 3 decades of informing and inspiring and connect the people of san francisco as the voice that >> >> (indiscernible) faces transformed san francisco street and sidewalks. local business communities are more resilient and our neighborhood centers on more vibrant ask lively. sidewalks and parking lanes can be used for outdoor seating, dining, merchandising and other community activities. we're counting on operators of shared spaces to ensure their sites are accessible for all and safe. hello, san francisco. i love it when i can cross the street in

our beauty city and not worry whether car can see me and i want me and my grandma to be safe when we do. we all want to be safe. that's why our city is making sure curb areas near street corners are clear of parked cars and any other structures, so that people driving vehicles, people walking, and people biking can all see each other at the intersection. if cars are parked which are too close to the crosswalk, drivers can't see who is about to cross the street. it's a proven way to prevent traffic crashes. which have way too much crashes and fatalities in our city. these updates to the shared spaces program will help to ensure safety and accessibility for everyone so we can all enjoy these public spaces. more information is available at sf dot gov slash

shared >>ime autumn looijen andeme polk running for district 5 supervisor. i have a track record getting things done. i run the school board recall and brought algebra back to middle school. our schools are on the-mind but city in crisis. running for supervisor because i came home and found a drug useer in front of my home. there were 5 kids on the top floor but couldn't stop himself. we must make sure people like him don't hurt himself or anything else. last year [indiscernible] a lot ha