A California police department’s drone program helped officers track down and arrest a suspected repeat shoplifter who attempted to flee on a stolen bicycle Tuesday morning and might otherwise have gotten away, officials said.
The incident happed at a Walmart in Clovis, California, where police were called just after 8 a.m. for a known shoplifting suspect. The department’s “Drone First Responder” (DFR) program proved crucial in the arrest, officials said.
“The suspect at Walmart stole a bicycle from inside the store, which the staff thought he would, and he took off on that bike,” Clovis Police Public Information Officer Ty Wood told ABC News Fresno station.
The suspect, identified by police as 19-year-old Sean Baker, was tracked by the drone as he crossed a nearby street. He now faces charges including shoplifting, possession of burglary tools and obstructing an officer, according to police.
The police spokesperson told ABC News that the department’s DFR program currently operates two drones, which can cover more than 90% of community. The department has already ordered a third drone for next year, the spokesperson said.
“We realize that drones are not going to be taking the place of a law enforcement helicopter, but with a city our size, we can’t afford a helicopter. These drone first responders are definitely a game changer,” the spokesperson told ABC News.
The drones, which typically fly at 200 feet, are equipped with advanced camera systems.
“These cameras are fantastic,” Wood told ABC30. “We have the ability to see license plates and get physical descriptions of suspects.”
A key advantage of the program is the drones’ ability to arrive at scenes before officers. The spokesperson said responding officers can view live drone footage from their patrol car computers while en route to calls.
The suspect “went behind other retail businesses and he would have been lost if it weren’t for the drone,” Wood told ABC30.
The department, which serves a community of over 129,000 residents, launched its drone program in 2020, according to the spokesperson. The initiative has since become an important part of the department’s Real Time Information Center (RTIC), which combines various surveillance systems used for public safety.
How do you steal an ebike? Did he hide it in his bag of holding?
I can’t wait to have my vehicle remotely disabled by a police drone for rolling through a stop sign at 1:30am.
Officers can view live drone footage from their patrol car computers…
Interesting. I wonder who else can view that live video stream.
Yes, that sounds safe, looking at video on your laptop while driving to the scene of a crime
They ride doubled up almost exclusively in LA ,think they would do the same in Fresno, also you can look at it while parked
Gotta protect those corporations first and foremost. I’m so glad Walmart will be OK after this. Thank you officers! Walmart can sleep safe tonight knowing justice has been served.
Police exist to protect capital, not people.
Imagine if we put as much effort into arresting pedophile politicians and priests.
Ok, we need to ally with Russia to topple/flatten the states supporting chat control and feed their politicians to a very large blender
Ok, we need to ally with Russia
Yikes…
Or they can give up chat control right now, they can give up that BS a-n-y-t-i-m-e
But if not, then taking out Russia and mildly inconveniencing states that are developping an authoritarian bent in their digital space, that’s a win-win
This might sound weird, but it’s more about maintaining order.
Ah, yes, I forget, if we don’t use excessive force and militarized police resources on shoplifters our entire society will surely crumble. They sure showed me! Glad they could use my tax dollars to hunt people like animals rather than improve quality of life for our citizens. Who needs affordable shelter and healthcare anyway. Without cops on every corner we will surely fall to chaos.
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can you pls explain what you mean in more depth?
your original post is sufficiently vague that tbh i don’t blame people for assuming you were just bootlicking? [which probably says more about the state of the world than you as an individual, but honestly it’s not clear what you’re trying to say?]
we all know a random citizen/local business presenting an identical calibre of evidence of repeated crimes would be extremely unlikely to routinely receive this degree of resource allocation.
so if it’s an idealised aspirational universal “order” you’re talking about then obviously noone’s buying it - and i don’t think you are either. so what do you mean?
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Of course, maintain the hierarchy of capital which sees most humans as serving the hierarchy and terminating those who defy “the order” for “their own good” of course, because as the central tenets of this religion asserts, exploitation of capital benefits “everyone”. As in, this meritocracy structure allows anyone to become King Bezos through “hard work”(*).
Since anyone could become king meritocatically, therefore they all benefit from the equal and just potential, to receive “each according to their needs and from each according to their ability” anyone who opposes this system in fact opposes their own interests and those of other, therefore justifying the deployment of unlimited violence to neutralize the threat, for everyone’s interests including the perpetrator.
You are absolutely correct.
That does sound weird.
Sure am glad we have police robots in the sky to protect us from 19 year old kids stealing stuff from Walmart
It would be a shame if policing focused on billions and trillions being stolen by corrupt corps, crypto scammers and flagrant law violaters of the upper class. But no, policing only for poor
Hey, this is 2025; you forgot your /s…I hope.
Please pick up the verification can.
The department, which serves a community of over 129,000 residents, launched its drone program in 2020,
no amount is too much for catching a bike thief /s
5 years of “drone program” for a community of 129000. They can sleep better now that the “suspected shop lifter” is at last arrested 🤷 those police toys must have been expensive, if they’re making news about this
It this from new season of Gumball?
Yes.
