KCPD expands drone security ahead of World Cup despite privacy concerns

As Kansas City prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Police Department officials say drones will play a role in monitoring large-scale events, on top of an expanding “drone as first responder” program that launched last year.

“We have used drones as a tactical resource for upwards of 10 years for things like tactical operations, standoffs, field searches for missing persons, scene mapping and reconstruction, parade overwatch and security, to name a few,” said Capt. Jacob Becchina, a Police Department spokesperson. “That won’t change for FIFA.”

Missouri was awarded roughly $14 million in federal grant funding for drone security during the World Cup in December, and the Police Department received roughly $11.8 million from a federal grant in February from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a counter-drone system that will institute a radar system and is supposed to help mitigate drones flying over controlled airspace.

But like many other emerging policing technologies, the use of drones is raising privacy concerns about how police will use the data and video collected.

“It really sets a dangerous tone, I think, for our community, when the police have use of this technology where they have access to people’s backyards,” said Amaia Cook, an organizer with DecarcerateKC, a Kansas City activist group that monitors law enforcement activities.

Drones provide real time video

The Police Department’s Drone as First Responder program, launched in 2025, allows drones to respond to certain calls before officers arrive, providing real-time video of active scenes, tracking suspects and helping coordinate responses on the ground.

“The purpose of the program is not surveillance of the public, but rather to enhance officer and the community’s safety,” said Maj. Greg Williams, who oversees the program. “In many cases, the drone allows officers to quickly assess a situation before arriving on scene, which can reduce risk.”

The program began development in early 2025, with the first drone dock deployed in May as part of a pilot to test how remotely operated drones could assist officers responding to calls, said Sgt. Phillip DiMartino, a department spokesperson.

The program expanded throughout 2025 with additional dock deployment stations across the city. The Police Department currently operates nine drones as part of the program, according to DiMartino, with each dock station and drone costing roughly $28,000 each.

Funding has come from multiple sources, including $600,000 from the Police Foundation of Kansas City in April and $500,000 approved by the City Council in November to support the program’s continued development and expansion.

The drones used in the program are manufactured by DJI and can travel between 30 and 40 miles per hour, while typically operating at an altitude of around 200 feet, according to DiMartino. They are piloted remotely by trained officers and must comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Williams said the program will continue to expand as more infrastructure is installed but they’ve already had success with the program, including assisting with arrests and locating suspects, as well as documenting crimes in progress.

But the expansion of the program doesn’t mean that the helicopter unit will be replaced by drones, according to DiMartino.

As the program is still new, they are still trying to hone in on anecdotal successes, and once a case is finished in courts, they will fully disclose some of those instances where they have been used, Becchina said.

But critics nationally say the technology raises concerns about surveillance and privacy.

Police Department policy even lists that, “All operators and observers will take reasonable precautions to avoid inadvertently recording or transmitting images of areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Drones expanding across U.S. departments

Lauren Bonds, executive director for the National Police Accountability Project, said the program is beginning to pop up in municipalities across the country through federal grants.

Bonds said that, like with any technology used by police, there are both benefits and risks.

“There’s a recognition that it has the ability to reduce police brutality by kind of taking the immediate officer-civilian interaction off the table and allowing police to get more information or intel before they go in, guns blazing, literally, sometimes,” she said.

But when it comes to privacy concerns, one has to weigh any potential loss of privacy against the benefits the drones offer. Bonds said the issue largely depends on the policies governing how the technology is used.

There should be clear limits on when drones can be deployed, along with strict rules preventing footage from being stored long-term or shared with other systems, she said.

“Then also, there’s just the fact that you know it’s going to be able to capture and see into so many more spaces that wouldn’t be viewable by a person’s eyes,” Bonds said.

“That’s just really opening up the broad range of previously private places that are now in police view because these drones are used frequently. (Those) are really important for Fourth Amendment issues.”

Bonds said a few states have implemented reporting requirements from departments that use the technology to identify patterns or issues in usage rates. The Police Department’s policy lists an internal audit process for a quarterly audit of flight logs to document the results.

“I think that that’s a very reasonable thing to do, just because it could be used for anything, and it could be incredibly harmful if there’s not any oversight,” she said.

Police officials say those concerns are addressed in the department’s drone policy.

The department’s policy for the program lists a series of prohibited activities related to the use of drones. They include: no random surveillance, no targeted surveillance of a person based on protected classes, no collection of photos or videos for facial recognition, officers are restricted from using the drones for personal business, and no targeted harassment or intimidation conducted using the drones.

Williams, who oversees the drone program, said the department has implemented strict policies governing drone use and data collection. He said drones are used only for specific service calls and public safety operations, and access to the system is restricted to trained and authorized staff who operate or monitor the technology.

“Video that is captured during operations is treated identical to other forms of police evidence or recorded documentation,” he said. “It is stored within secure law enforcement systems and retained in accordance with the department’s established retention schedules and public records requirements.”

‘Wave of the future’

Programs like Kansas City’s are becoming more common nationwide, reflecting what some experts see as a broader shift in policing. DiMartino said other area agencies using drones as first responders include Olathe and Overland Park police departments.

“This is the wave of the future. Everything is going to be drones,” said Joseph Giacalone, a former New York Police Department sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

From a tactical standpoint, drones can improve safety for both officers and civilians by allowing responders to assess situations, such as mental health calls, without immediately putting people in harm’s way, he said.

Giacalone said the technology can also expand how police conduct searches and investigations, from locating missing people to documenting outdoor crime scenes more efficiently.

“You can cover a much larger area in a shorter period of time than you would by foot,” he said.

At the same time, Giacalone said the technology does have its limitations for things such as weather conditions that can ground drones, like strong winds or heavy storms.

Advocates warn of surveillance expansion

Local community activists who monitor law enforcement activities said that the expansion of drone technology raises broader concerns about surveillance and police accountability.

“It’s incredibly concerning to know that our local police department is participating in what’s becoming the new mass surveillance technology of our time,” said Cook with DecarcerateKC.

Cook said that while the department has outlined policies limiting how drones can be used, those rules do not guarantee that the technology will not be misused.

Policies can still be violated, Cook said, pointing to past incidents across the country where officers used surveillance tools outside department guidelines to look into people, such as former partners or spouses.

“There have been instances of police departments across the country not knowing officers were using this type of technology for their private use and violating community members’ freedom by going into their backyards,” she said.

Cook also said she is concerned about how the technology could be used during large upcoming events in Kansas City, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“We know that this technology will be used to surveil people during the World Cup,” Cook said, adding that similar surveillance tools are increasingly being used by federal agencies.

For Washington-Wheatley resident Vickye Sayles, the benefits of the program outweigh the drawbacks.

Sayles said she did have concerns about people trying to shoot them down, which would be illegal under Missouri law, which restricts firearms from being discharged in municipalities.

“I’m okay with embracing technology to be safe in car chases or to look for perpetrators,” said Sayles, whose neighborhood is located on the East Side of Kansas City between 18th Street and 27th and Prospect Avenue to Interstate 70.

“I would just hope that KCPD will inform people, because I think people can make a better acceptance or cooperation, if you will, when they know the pros and cons,” she said.

The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton provided some information for this story.

Ben Wheeler

The Kansas City Star