1. CityDroneWatch
  2. California
  3. Santa Ana
  4. October 2026
  5. 16

Santa Ana, California · one day

Friday 16 October 2026

18 drone flights from Santa Ana Police Department's published record.

18

drone flights over Santa Ana that day.

4:27 am

first takeoff; the last was at 11:05 pm.

7 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Santa Ana police drones flew 18 times on Friday 16 October 2026, the first at 4:27 am and the last at 11:05 pm PDT, by Santa Ana Police Department's published record.

18 drawable flights of 18. Each path is the whole flight, simplified; a flight with a sensitive stated purpose is drawn as an area.
One flight, takeoff to landingSensitive-purpose flight, as an area

Hour by hour

Takeoffs by hour, PDT.

12a1a2a3a4a5a6a7a8a9a10a11a12p1p2p3p4p5p6p7p8p9p10p11p

Why, in the agency's words

  1. Call for service83%
  2. Training and testing17%

Flights, in order

18 flights. Those in the latest full month link to their own page; a flight with a sensitive stated purpose has no page of its own.

Takeoff (PDT)PurposeAirborneFlight
4:27 amTraining and testing2 min108b51c2
6:02 amCall for service8 minbbc77aec
8:31 amTraining and testing2 min 00 saa9c50a5
8:49 amCall for service14 minb89732c6
9:34 amCall for service7 min98203a15
10:10 amCall for service3 min2dac8015
10:25 amCall for service15 mina4e050a1
10:45 amCall for service4 min12a17d3f
1:25 pmTraining and testing1 min 18 saf5cb7f4
2:01 pmCall for service7 min5872783f
2:28 pmCall for service14 min38970543
2:46 pmCall for service10 min2718f76c
7:04 pmCall for service8 minba8ce1a6
7:26 pmCall for service5 min3c4a50d1
7:55 pmCall for service3 min26512805
9:25 pmCall for service20 min47bb66d4
10:13 pmCall for service8 min9ee2ebe3
11:05 pmCall for service14 minf05475d1

How this page is made

  • Every flight in the agency's published record is counted and listed; drawn paths are the whole flight, takeoff to landing.
  • The record's free-text description is never read into a page. A flight whose stated purpose names a domestic, sexual-assault, kidnapping, welfare, mental-health or juvenile matter is listed like any other but drawn as a generalised area, not a path.
  • Operators are the agency's own accounts in the record, numbered within the agency in order of first flight; no name or address is read into a page.
  • Purposes are the agency's own words, grouped into classes by a fixed list of terms; unmatched values are "Other" and blank ones "Not stated".
  • Times are shown on the agency's own local clock.
  • A day is the agency's local calendar day of takeoff.

Corrections and questions: see the about page. See about this site for the sources and the publication rules.