As America celebrated its 250th anniversary, cities and towns across the country deployed drones to monitor and punish individuals engaging in illegal fireworks activities. This trend is part of a broader effort by first responders to use technology to prevent and enforce laws against fireworks-related offenses.
The use of drone surveillance has become increasingly common among fire departments and police forces as they look for ways to deter people from shooting off illegal fireworks. In some cities, the deployment of drones was accompanied by steep fines, which were issued to individuals caught violating local regulations.
**Sacramento Fire Department’s Drone Program**
The Sacramento Fire Department in Northern California was one of the departments that used drone surveillance for the first time on July 4th. According to CBS News Sacramento, the department deployed its own drones and issued 70 citations, totaling $300,000 in fines. The department also assigned additional citations on July 2 and July 3.
Captain Justin Sylvia of the Sacramento Fire Department described the fire department’s drones as capable of recording high-resolution video to help investigators identify the location using Google Maps. This allowed the department to count the number of fireworks being fired from a gathering near a home in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood of Sacramento, according to KCRA 3.
The resulting $100,000 fine came from counting the number of fireworks and possibly other factors. Sacramento County assigns fines for illegal fireworks starting at $1,000 per device and as high as $10,000 per device used near sensitive areas such as schools or parks.
**Other Cities’ Drone Programs**
But it’s not just Sacramento that’s using drone surveillance to deter illegal fireworks. The Salinas Fire Department in Central California posted a promotional sizzle reel on Instagram featuring drone footage of various illegal fireworks activities and warning that it expected to issue nearly 100 citations from the Fourth of July weekend.
The trend of first responders deploying drones has accelerated significantly since 2025, when the US Federal Aviation Administration reworked its regulations to enable faster approvals of waivers enabling police and fire departments to fly drones beyond the operator’s visual line of sight. Several police departments in Southern California also deployed drone teams for the first time in 2026 to identify the locations of illegal fireworks activity.
The Anaheim Police Department used drones to help issue 40 citations and confiscate 2,500 pounds of illegal fireworks, according to The Orange County Register. Meanwhile, the La Habra Police Department posted a less flashy video on Facebook showing a drone video of a person lighting a firework in the middle of a residential street.
**Concerns About Drone Surveillance**
The use of drones for surveillance has raised concerns about privacy and the potential for abuse. Beryl Lipton, a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted that drones should require clear policies around retention, audits, and use, including when the cameras shouldn’t be recording.
Source: Original article