drone flights over Detroit that day.

9:04 am

first takeoff; the last was at 10:38 am.

15 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Detroit police drones flew 19 times on Sunday 18 May 2025, the first at 9:04 am and the last at 10:38 am EDT, by Detroit Fire Department's published record.

19 drawable flights of 19. 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, EDT.

12a1a2a3a4a5a6a7a8a9a10a11a12p1p2p3p4p5p6p7p8p9p10p11p

Why, in the agency's words

Training and testing100%

Flights, in order

19 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 (EDT)	Purpose	Airborne	Flight
9:04 am	Training and testing	15 min	`67331432`
9:18 am	Training and testing	31 min	`a8c218ba`
9:19 am	Training and testing	31 min	`d7b278cb`
9:20 am	Training and testing	13 min	`5c979746`
9:26 am	Training and testing	29 min	`4343f129`
9:31 am	Training and testing	1 min 27 s	`eabdc733`
9:36 am	Training and testing	59 s	`b3227734`
9:37 am	Training and testing	23 min	`65d8b3c9`
9:41 am	Training and testing	8 min	`77ff012f`
9:51 am	Training and testing	7 min	`1ee96822`
9:54 am	Training and testing	31 min	`ffd087a7`
9:59 am	Training and testing	25 min	`c122303c`
10:01 am	Training and testing	31 min	`a2ad6868`
10:01 am	Training and testing	7 min	`285fc5dd`
10:02 am	Training and testing	19 min	`e94caeb0`
10:12 am	Training and testing	17 min	`960d2897`
10:22 am	Training and testing	5 min	`d8d65d6f`
10:30 am	Training and testing	10 min	`98a84096`
10:38 am	Training and testing	9 min	`0ee8f18c`

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.