UAV Technology Leads to Successful Apprehension
The Eloy Police Department reported another successful drone deployment in a May 12 Facebook post detailing how their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) helped apprehend an arson suspect.
On May 3, officers responded to a family dispute in the 200 North block of Myers Boulevard where a suspect had threatened violence and arson following an argument. The suspect ignited a plastic garbage can in the kitchen and fled the scene, leaving an uninvolved family member asleep in a rear bedroom.
Officers evacuated the family member, and Eloy Fire District personnel acted quickly to minimize damage to the home. The police department’s UAV Unit, Delta #1, operated by Sgt. Stretton, located the suspect hiding beneath debris at a nearby property.
The suspect now faces multiple felony charges including Arson of an Occupied Structure, Criminal Damage Domestic Violence, Reckless Endangerment DV, Aggravated Assault DV, Threatening and Intimidating, and Disorderly Conduct DV. Officials booked him into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center.
Growing Role of Drone Technology in Public Safety
This recent arrest highlights the expanding role of drone technology throughout Pinal County. Just last week, the Eloy Fire Department (EFD) used their drone technology to help battle a wildfire threatening homes between Eloy and Casa Grande.
During the May 8 incident, multiple EFD units responded to a 15-acre wind-driven wildfire near Highway 84 and Sunland Gin Road. Brush 522 quickly deployed lines and personnel to protect structures, while subsequent units attacked the fire from safe areas, and the EFD UAV established a perimeter around the fire, creating safer and more effective response strategies.
This coordination allowed Eloy and Casa Grande Fire Departments to work together and prevent injuries or major damage to homes. The EFD had been conducting controlled burns and brush clearing operations in the weeks prior to this fire, part of their preparation for what officials expect will be a busy wildfire season.
History of UAV Programs in Pinal County
Drone technology has rapidly evolved within Pinal County’s emergency services. The Eloy Fire District formally launched their UAV program in December 2024 after completing rigorous Federal Aviation Administration requirements.
The program’s development required months of research, training, and preparation to meet FAA Part 107 requirements. Several Eloy firefighters underwent FAA Part 107 certification training, led by Division Chief Luis Martinez of Regional Fire & Rescue Department. The training covered comprehensive areas including vehicle operation, navigation, airspace classification, operating requirements, and flight restrictions.
The program introduced two aircraft to enhance emergency response operations. All Eloy drones comply with the FAA’s Remote ID requirements, which became mandatory in September 2023. This requirement acts as a digital license plate for drones, allowing the FAA, law enforcement, and other agencies to identify unmanned aircraft in their jurisdictions.
This technology builds on previous successes. On April 9, 2025, the Eloy Police Department had used their UAV Unit, Delta #1, operated by Officer Perez, to locate a suspect who fled from officers on a bicycle in the area of the 200 W block of Alsdorf. The subject had hidden in a residence not belonging to him after officers attempted to stop him for a traffic violation.
Law Enforcement Expands Drone Capabilities
Casa Grande Police Department has also embraced drone technology. During “Operation Wheels of Fire” on March 28th and 29th, 2025, Casa Grande officers used advanced drone surveillance to target DUI-related incidents and reckless driving in the northern part of the city, an area identified through recent data analysis as a priority for enforcement.
The operation resulted in 137 traffic stops and 23 arrests. Two drivers attempted to flee from traffic stops but were successfully apprehended using drone surveillance with additional aerial support from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office helicopter.
The integration of drones significantly improved officers’ ability to respond swiftly and strategically, providing real-time aerial surveillance to enhance safety, track fleeing suspects, and monitor roadways more effectively.
Surveillance Technology Raises Constitutional Questions
As Pinal County law enforcement agencies expand their surveillance technologies, questions about privacy and constitutional protections have emerged. What began with implementations in Casa Grande and Apache Junction has now spread throughout Pinal County, with Flock Safety cameras now visible in communities across the region.
According to the monitoring group Atlas of Surveillance Project, a collaborative effort between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the University of Nevada, Casa Grande initially installed Flock cameras in 2022, while Apache Junction implemented its system more recently. Detailed locations of many of these cameras, drones and other surveillance equipment can be found on the Atlas of Surveillance website, which tracks the proliferation of this technology.
At the Casa Grande State of the City address on March 5, 2025, Councilmember Robert Huddleston highlighted the cumulative outcomes of their system, stating that “the flock camera system with 22 strategically placed cameras has helped identify 67 stolen vehicles and 18 stolen license plates leading to 33 arrests.”
Apache Junction Police Chief Michael Pooley reported similar success during the March 4 city council meeting, noting that in 2024 alone, the department’s Flock system contributed to “14 arrests, recovered 19 stolen vehicles, six stolen license plates, and a total of just under $400,000 in assets.”
However, a lawsuit filed in Norfolk, Virginia challenges the constitutionality of such systems, potentially raising questions for similar deployments elsewhere. Attorneys from the Institute for Justice have filed a Fourth Amendment challenge against Norfolk’s 172-camera network. IJ Attorney Robert Frommer describes the Norfolk system as “part of the largest domestic surveillance program in the entire United States,” with cameras that allow authorities “to track the entire driving population.”
This technology has proven vital in various situations. Chief Pooley described an incident where the system potentially prevented violence by alerting officers to the return of a domestic violence suspect. “We believe [it] possibly saved a life,” said Pooley, explaining a situation where a female was assaulted by her fiancé who threatened to harm or kill her. Officers couldn’t locate him until “we had an alert on the flock camera when he came back into town… He was parked across the street from this fiancée’s house with a loaded handgun ready to go visit her.” Pooley noted, “with the use of flock cameras we believe that this helped us find him quickly before he was able to go back to the house.”
Institute for Justice Attorney Robert Frommer contends that “this current system as designed is unconstitutional because it’s without a warrant, without any suspicion. It collects all the data of everyone who’s driving.”
While no similar legal challenge currently exists in Pinal County, both Casa Grande and Apache Junction have established policies for their Flock systems. According to Resolution No. 5463 from September 2022, Casa Grande’s system includes several policy safeguards: a 30-day data retention period after which all data not associated with a crime is permanently deleted, a requirement that officers must document the reason for each search to create an audit trail, and a prohibition against facial recognition or traffic enforcement. The resolution established that while the cameras are the property of Flock Group, the footage is owned by the agency. The system detects only objective data and is not connected to DMV registration data.
Similarly, the Apache Junction Police Department’s transparency portal indicates that its Flock system stores data for 30 days, requires human verification before action on hotlist alerts, and prohibits use for immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment, intimidation, or personal use. The system is also designed to capture only license plates and vehicles, not facial recognition, people, gender, or race.
Future of Public Safety Technology in Pinal County
As technology becomes increasingly integrated into public safety strategies across Pinal County, the balance between effective crime-fighting tools and constitutional protections will likely remain at the forefront of public discussion.
Chief Pooley has described tools like mobile overt camera trailers, GPS-equipped radios, data management platforms, and drones as “force multipliers.” While Pinal County’s law enforcement agencies continue to demonstrate positive outcomes from their technological implementations, the constitutional questions raised by the Institute for Justice lawsuit in Norfolk may eventually affect how surveillance systems operate nationwide.
For now, residents of Pinal County can expect continued expansion of drone technology for emergency response, with police citing improved apprehension capabilities and fire departments reporting enhanced situational awareness and safety during emergencies. The “curtain of technology” described by Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot in court documents from the Norfolk case appears to be forming in concept across jurisdictions, with public safety benefits and privacy concerns developing in parallel.
