Miami Beach police launch drones as first responders ahead of spring break

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., March 2025 — Miami Beach police now send a drone to some emergency calls before an officer gets there. Here's what launched, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of March 13, 2025)

Cost: "part of a $2 million investment," partly funded by a 2018 bond, per WSVN; CBS Miami calls it "the $2 million RTIC." (WSVN, CBS Miami)
Cameras: about 850, giving over 1,600 views, plus 30 license plate readers. (CBS Miami)
Response time: an aerial view of any part of the city "within a minute of launching," police said. (NBC 6)
Outcomes: none published at launch.

What launched

The department unveiled the center and the drone program on Monday, March 10, 2025, ahead of spring break. The center is the hub for the department's observation, analytics and intelligence work, CBS Miami reported. Besides cameras and plate readers, it monitors the RADII marine radar system and watches social media for threats.

Officials said the department is the first in Florida and one of five nationwide to use Skydio's Drone as First Responder program. The department also said it was the first agency in Miami-Dade County to get a Beyond Visual Line of Sight waiver from the FAA, which lets operators fly drones they can't see directly.

How it works

When a call comes in, a drone launches toward the scene and sends live video back to the center. "A call goes out. The drone is deployed. That drone actually gets to the scene of the crime prior to police officers getting there," Police Chief Wayne Jones said, according to WSVN and Police1.

The Skydio X10 can fly at 45 miles per hour and carries infrared sensors for tracking people in the dark, according to Miami New Times. Drones were not new to the department: in a Feb. 28, 2024 blog post, Skydio said Miami Beach police had deployed five X10s for traffic monitoring, accident reconstruction and event overwatch, including Art Week 2023 and New Year's Eve, and "plans to use" them during Spring Break 2024 (Skydio).

What the city said

"Miami Beach is at the forefront of pioneering technology to revolutionize public safety," Mayor Steven Meiner said in a statement, according to CBS Miami. His message, as quoted by WSVN and Police1, to would-be offenders was blunter: "We catch the bad guys; don't come here and commit crimes in Miami Beach."

Why spring break

The launch was timed to the city's busiest and most policed weeks. After a heavy crackdown in 2024, city leaders ran a campaign announcing they were "Breaking Up With Spring Break," NBC 6 reported. "A friend of mine said to me, 'hey, you guys not only broke up with spring break, but you actually divorced it,' and we did and it went well," Jones said, according to NBC 6.

Meiner said the tools would be used during the peak hours with "the most crimes and the most arrests," CBS Miami reported. Jones said the center "provides data in real time so we can use data to make key decisions in the field," per NBC 6. He also said, according to CBS Miami, that the city has "the largest number of cameras of any municipality in the state of Florida," a claim we have not checked.

On flying beyond sight, Jones said, according to WSVN: "Drone pilots can fly that drone without having to physically see it. He could fly the drone from here and fly it throughout the entire city."

The privacy objections

William Owen, a spokesperson for the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), told New Times that drones "capturing real time footage and potentially recording people's conversations are a major overstep and threat to privacy." New Times also cited a 2024 report by Jay Stanley of the ACLU, who named the monitoring of public gatherings as one of the most concerning police uses of drones.

What went wrong

Cost is unclear. WSVN ties $2 million to the whole initiative; CBS Miami ties it to the center alone. Neither breaks out the drone program.
No outcome data yet. The department gave no response-time or arrest figures at launch.
Privacy rules not published. None of the reports describe how long drone video is kept or who can see it.
What we don't know yet: the drone program's own cost, its flight-time policies and how footage is stored.

Our follow-up question for the Miami Beach Police Department

How long does the department keep drone footage that doesn't become evidence, and who can view it?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

In an Aug. 27, 2026 Police1 report, Lt. Raymond Diaz said the drone reached calls before officers 54% of the time and completed more than 1,000 missions with one dock in its first six months; a second dock was added later. He said the camera network has grown to more than 1,100 devices and more than 2,000 views. (Police1)
Skydio posted a video on Aug. 19, 2026 titled "Inside Miami Beach PD's DFR Program: Lessons from Spring Break, FIFA, and 500+ Responses." We could not reconcile its count with the department's figure. (Skydio)

Sources

WSVN, “Miami Beach Police unveils real-time intelligence center, drone program ahead of spring break,” March 10, 2025. wsvn.com
NBC 6 South Florida, Julia Bagg and Ari Odzer, “New drone tech being deployed in Miami Beach amid spring break crackdown,” March 10, 2025. nbcmiami.com
CBS Miami, “Miami Beach Police will use drones, real-time intelligence center during spring break,” March 10, 2025. cbsnews.com
Police1, Joanna Putman, “'We catch the bad guys': Fla. PD launches RTIC and DFR program, bolstering spring break policing,” March 12, 2025. police1.com
Miami New Times, Alex DeLuca, “Miami Beach Police Will Once Again Use Drones to Monitor Spring Breakers,” March 13, 2025. miaminewtimes.com
Police1, Nancy Perry, “NRTCCA 2026 Quick Take: What Miami Beach learned in its first year operating an RTCC,” Aug. 27, 2026. police1.com
Skydio, “Inside Miami Beach PD's DFR Program: Lessons from Spring Break, FIFA, and 500+ Responses” (video), Aug. 19, 2026. live.skydio.com
Skydio, “Miami Beach Police Department deploys Skydio X10 as first responder drones,” Feb. 28, 2024. skydio.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder