{"id":16650,"date":"2026-06-20T15:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T15:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650"},"modified":"2026-06-20T15:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T15:31:32","slug":"santa-ana-police-say-drone-feed-helped-guide-response-to-january-protest-involving-federal-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650","title":{"rendered":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Using a live drone feed, Santa Ana police officials said they did not see the threat being reported by Department of Homeland Security agents during a January protest at the federal building in the city\u2019s Civic Center and chose not to escalate the department\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Read more America 250: One hour in Trenton changed the course of the American Revolution<\/a><\/p>\n

The Santa Ana Police Department\u2019s account of the Jan. 9 protest, during which one protester alleges being shot and left blind in one eye by a federal agent, emerged during a community meeting this week on the department\u2019s annual military equipment report, which included information on the department\u2019s relatively new use of drones.<\/p>\n

SAPD Commander Matt Sorensen told community members he used the real-time aerial video in deciding that sending officers into the crowd was unnecessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a phone call from (the agent) in charge, and he was saying he was taking lots of bottles,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 100 demonstrators had gathered outside of Orange County\u2019s Civic Center in downtown Santa Ana, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office is also located, to protest immigration enforcement actions. Earlier that week, Ren\u00e9e Good had been shot to death by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had people just kind of sitting around waiting for something to happen,\u201d Sorenson said of the officers put on standby to respond to the protest if needed, adding that, as an incident commander, that is what he prefers the outcome to be.<\/p>\n

When asked about the discrepancy from the Santa Ana Department\u2019s assessment of crowd conditions, a DHS spokesperson said this week, \u201cA mob of about 60 rioters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at law enforcement officers outside the federal building in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo officers were injured. Two violent rioters were arrested and were charged with assault on federal officer and disorderly conduct,\u201d their statement said. \u201dThis was a highly coordinated campaign of violence where rioters wielded shields. One of the rioters, who was arrested for disorderly conduct, was taken to the hospital for a cut and was released that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In April, Kaden Rummler, 21, a USC student, filed a complaint against the government, saying he was left permanently blinded in his left eye after a DHS officer fired a less-lethal round from close range during the January protest..<\/p>\n

Santa Ana police said they assisted the Orange County Fire Authority with two reported injuries, including one individual with a head injury and another who had been impacted by munitions, and officers did not make any arrests that night or take any reports regarding an assault on federal officers. Sorensen said he did not see any of the activity reported by DHS beyond a couple of orange rubber traffic cones being thrown, nor were local police in possession of any evidence corroborating that protesters were wielding shields or assaulting federal officers.<\/p>\n

An Orange County Register reporter at the scene until just prior to the interaction when the protester was injured, noted that while the majority of demonstrators were peaceful, a small group near the federal building were seen throwing a few orange rubber traffic cones.<\/p>\n

The use of drones is a relatively new tool for SAPD, which formally launched its program earlier this year following approval from the City Council to enter into a $682,900 three-year contract with Axon Enterprise, Inc. for five drones. The company also supplies the agency with body cameras.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Sorensen said the drones\u2019 bird\u2019s-eye view of a situation offers context that can be hard to achieve from the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m running one of these incidents, I don\u2019t get to see what every officer on the street is seeing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe rely on them to communicate to us what they\u2019re seeing and doing. Now I can correlate what they\u2019re telling me on the radio with what I can see on video. That helps a lot in the decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department did not have its drone program in place when a more volatile demonstration unfolded a year ago near the federal building, following a day of mass immigration enforcement actions throughout the county that marked the initial ramp-up of federal activity in Orange County. Sorensen said police were \u201ccaught off guard\u201d and unable to pre-position resources before the situation escalated.<\/p>\n

Read more Can wearing a glucose monitor make you healthier? Here\u2019s what happened to students who did<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBy January, I started putting things in place so that we could mitigate any response, because now I\u2019ve got good information coming in from drone feeds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both the June 2025 and January 2026 incidents fall within the reporting period of the most recent annual military equipment report, which is required under Assembly Bill 481, a state law governing the use of defined military equipment by law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

According to the report spanning May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, unmanned aerial systems, or drones, were deployed 12 times.\u00a0Also during the reporting period, defined military equipment was deployed to 36 field-based incidents and 11 community events.<\/p>\n

Of the 36 deployments, 21 involved the department\u2019s SWAT Team. There were no officer-involved shootings or fatalities reported in the annual accounting. Subjects were detained or arrested in 19 incidents.<\/p>\n

The report logged\u00a0 215 deployments of 40 mm projectiles, 59 uses of 12-gauge beanbag rounds, 37 CS deployments and 24 uses of the Terradyne armored rescue vehicle, among other totals.<\/p>\n

The annual meeting marked the second time community members had been able to weigh in on the department\u2019s use of military equipment, after the agency disclosed last year that it had failed to host any meetings for three years, in violation of AB 481. Chief Robert Rodriguez said previously the noncompliance was \u201cadministrative oversight\u201d tied to leadership turnover.<\/p>\n

Several community members argued that the lack of dates, times and neighborhoods in the annual report undercuts the transparency intent of AB 481, though the department is not legally required to provide those details.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see this equipment used, quite frankly, a lot more than other specific wards in the area,\u201d said Ray Diaz from the city\u2019s Ward 6 neighborhoods after asking commanders for specifics on when and where deployments occurred. \u201cIt would be helpful for us as a public, too, to know if there\u2019s a specific neighborhood that perhaps is being targeted too much with this equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual report also noted two community complaints directly tied to equipment use during the reporting period. One investigation found that personnel did not violate SAPD policy, and the second remained under investigation, with litigation pending, the report said.<\/p>\n

Under the internal audit structure detailed in the report, use of the equipment requires approval from an on-scene supervisor and a watch commander, with SWAT team-specific gear requiring authorization from the SWAT team commander or assistant SWAT team commander.<\/p>\n

Such deployments are later reviewed to evaluate \u201cthe appropriateness of the equipment used,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, SAPD officials said the department will evaluate the drone program\u2019s effectiveness and compliance with policy and state law, and may request authorization to seek additional funding to expand the drone inventory if the review is favorable.<\/p>\n

Community feedback on the program has been mixed, with some residents citing concerns about the growing implementation of surveillance tools and a citizen\u2019s right to privacy.<\/p>\n

Sorensen said he believes the investment is already shaping command decisions, citing the use of drones as a tool to potentially de-escalate situations.<\/p>\n

Read more Acen Jimenez, Makena Cook honored by OC Sports Commission<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a saying that I use: A boring operation is a good operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The department gave its annually required community update on the use of military equipment this week, including a new drone program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSanta Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The department gave its annually required community update on the use of military equipment this week, including a new drone program.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650\"},\"wordCount\":1279,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650\",\"name\":\"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=16650#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"The department gave its annually required community update on the use of military equipment this week, including a new drone program.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents","datePublished":"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650"},"wordCount":1279,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp","articleSection":["Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650","name":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-20T15:31:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ab61ab35b0c94fe279dc7330aa8fbbd0.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16650#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Santa Ana police say drone feed helped guide response to January protest involving federal agents"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}