1. CityDroneWatch
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Philadelphia
  4. April 2026
  5. 23

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · one day

Thursday 23 April 2026

20 drone flights from Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

20

drone flights over Philadelphia that day.

9:49 am

first takeoff; the last was at 9:08 pm.

10 min

median flight. Half were shorter.

Philadelphia police drones flew 20 times on Thursday 23 April 2026, the first at 9:49 am and the last at 9:08 pm EDT, by Philadelphia Police Department's published record.

20 drawable flights of 20. 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

  1. Other45%
  2. Not stated30%
  3. Drone as first responder10%
  4. Call for service10%
  5. Training and testing5%

Flights, in order

20 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)PurposeAirborneFlight
9:49 amOther2 minc9aa5a83
9:54 amOther4 mind8afd1e3
9:59 amOther13 minc7d40fb3
10:14 amOther25 mind3fb14da
10:45 amOther23 min87cebced
11:14 amOther24 minb7691379
11:42 amOther25 minadb27677
12:12 pmOther8 min2c241d90
4:24 pmNot stated11 min706cad5f
5:29 pmNot stated7 minc9aab1cf
5:46 pmDrone as first responder15 mina337b8ca
5:55 pmNot stated7 min33f2c1c7
6:10 pmOther36 sf8ae96c8
6:23 pmNot stated18 minc4035aba
6:24 pmDrone as first responder14 minc4bd00fd
6:46 pmCall for service16 mind54bdfa4
7:33 pmCall for service5 min68e71703
7:42 pmNot stated7 min9c94efa4
8:34 pmTraining and testing1 min 37 s5e8fb536
9:08 pmNot stated9 mincbaac159

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.