The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office wants to expand its use of drones to reduce deputy violence. Yet its oversight agency warns the rules for deployment are too loose, and some officials are concerned about over-policing communities of color.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with using drones as first responders, with a final vote planned for June 17. It would allow Sheriff Bob Jonsen’s office to remotely deploy drones from its headquarters to calls for service out in the field, which law enforcement officials said could lead to fewer uses of force. Current conditions only enable drones be deployed from patrol cars during protests. It would also empower deputies to use them in the jails.
It comes as a new report from the sheriff’s oversight office questioned the use of drones at two protests this year — including a high school walkout — against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in San Jose.
A deputy monitoring the high school walkout deployed a drone without notifying any of his superiors, according to the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring (OCLEM). The office said drone use should require a supervisor’s authorization and that Jonsen’s policies should clearly define this — as well as make clearer the permissible uses.
Supervisors directed Jonsen’s office to make those changes and requested more information about how expanded drone use will take shape.
“People have a right to congregate and demonstrate,” District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said at the meeting. “I can see there might be an opportunity to over-police in Black and brown neighborhoods. I don’t like this idea of folks being overly policed.”
Sheriff officials said they’re working on those policy changes.
“We take any concerns about the authorization process for drone use seriously and are finalizing a policy that clearly defines the purpose and guidelines for deploying drones,” spokesperson Brooks Jarosz told San José Spotlight. “We are committed to working closely with OCLEM and engaging in substantive conversations as we refine our policies.”
The report identified other areas for the sheriff’s office to improve policy, and recommended a higher threshold for deputies using impact weapons, such as batons and projectiles designed to stun people, after finding officers hit people who weren’t resisting arrest. The report also noted some deputies muted their body-worn cameras during “downtime” conversations, where deputies waited for an armored vehicle to arrive or after making an arrest.
The drone discussion was tied to a review of the sheriff’s use of military equipment, such as armored cars and AR-15s. Total military equipment use went up in the field, from 49 incidents between 2023 and 2024 to 119 between 2024 and 2025. That was largely driven by last year’s introduction of drones. Uses of military equipment went down by nearly half in the jails.
Overall, the oversight office and supervisors had glowing remarks for the sheriff’s handling of military equipment.
“(It’s) transparency we don’t see from any other law enforcement agencies that we work with or any we’ve been able to identify throughout the whole state,” OCLEM Project Manager Julie Ruhlin said at the meeting. “The level of detail that this report provides about each incident really makes this report stand out much more than other agencies are including in their annual reports.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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