The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is seeking $12.6 million from a federal immigration enforcement fund to expand the agency’s existing drone fleet and support the development of a so-called Drone as First Responder system, which would allow for some drones to launch remotely and start gathering information before deputies can arrive at a scene.
If the Department of Justice approves LCSO’s application, the county would receive the funds, then pass them along to the Sheriff’s Office. County commissioners okayed the grant application Tuesday, approving it as part of the commission’s consent agenda.
Why more drones?
Incidents in “large and growing” Lake County “often develop faster than ground units can safely reach and assess them,” according to LCSO’s proposal. Drones can help the agency gather information more efficiently, including when it needs to respond to several incidents at once or while deputies are still en route to a scene.
Right now, LCSO has 13 drones, including 11 assigned to deputy patrol cars. Those patrol-based drones can be launched to help deputies search for a missing person or crime suspect.
The other two drones are used indoors, when warranted, according to an agency spokesperson. LCSO started using them after a deputy was fatally ambushed inside a home in 2024.
The $12.6 million now sought by the agency would help it launch a proposed “Drone as First Responder (DFR) and Aerial Situational Awareness (ASA) Program,” which would involve prepositioning drones in certain, fixed locations so they can be deployed remotely. Trained remote pilots would be able to arrive virtually over a scene and gather information for deputies and other first responders before they can get there.
“This capability does not replace sworn personnel, investigative judgment, or manned aviation,” according to LCSO’s proposal. “It closes the time-and information gap before ground arrival and helps the agency deploy each resource with greater precision.”
The agency’s proposed DFR system would establish seven fixed, “strategically located” sites in Lake County, from which 14 drones could remotely deploy. Additionally, LCSO hopes to add 15 patrol-based drones to its existing fleet. That would bring the agency’s total number of drones to 42, including the two indoor drones.
Would the drones just be for immigration enforcement?
The $12.6 million sought by LCSO would come from a federal grant fund authorized under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The $3 billion fund is called “Bridging Immigration-Related Deficits Experienced Nationwide,” or BIDEN. LCSO is applying during the third and final funding round, which closes to applicants this week. More than 400 applications were submitted in two previous rounds, but so far no money has been awarded.
However, “the grant does not require the funding to be used for immigration enforcement,” according to LCSO.
“We intend to use the funding to enhance our current drone program for responding to any call for service where a drone could save life or property and aid in the apprehension of wanted suspects,” an agency spokesperson wrote by email.
LCSO cooperates with immigration officials “as requested” and participates in the federal 287(g) program authorizing local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents. According to the agency’s proposal, the requested $12.6 million would serve as “a practical force multiplier” for LCSO’s 287(g) partnership, investigations into human and sex trafficking operations and “other major DOJ enforcement efforts.”
RELATED: ICE is giving local police big money to help with immigration enforcement
The BIDEN grant funds are broken up into three funding categories for applicants: hiring, technology and equipment, and construction of temporary detention facilities. LCSO’s proposal seeks funding from the second category.
Concerns and context
Lake County residents have been sounding the alarm about heightened surveillance in light of rising public concern over automatic license-plate readers (ALPR), like the cameras operated by Flock Safety.
RELATED: Update: Lake County joins Central Florida trend, rejecting Flock cameras
Eustis resident Cindy Newton shares those surveillance concerns. She worries LCSO’s proposed DFR program, while well-intentioned, could get out of hand.
“This will probably start off as what it's supposed to be. What's it going to be in five years?” Newton said. “Are these [drones] just going to go out on routine calls, and just be patrolling? And constantly recording everything they see? I mean, where's it go from here? … It’s more surveillance.”
Newton said she also worries about data encryption, as well as how and for how long data collected by the drones will be stored.
“How many houses, backyards, et cetera, are they going to be flying over that's going to be recorded?” Newton asked.
Similar DFR programs have recently launched in other parts of Central Florida. St. Cloud announced it was launching the region’s first such program late last year, and Orlando’s DFR program kicked off this summer.
