16 February 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – We are all familiar with drones and their capabilities. As a working photojournalist and photographer, I utilize drones to capture video and still shots. When flying a drone, I am cognizant of the privacy rights of others on the ground and the expectation of privacy that we all enjoy in our homes and yards.
What happens when law enforcement uses drones? What can we expect from the departments using them and the officers in control of them? Over the last few days, I’ve been asking myself and the El Paso Police Department these questions. Sadly, the El Paso Police Department has failed to respond.
I also asked the El Paso Police Department about City-owned vehicles and officers negligently discharging firearms.
Last week, a Lieutenant working out of the Five Points Regional Command forwarded me an email written by the Northeast Regional Command Center’s Commander, Ignacio Hernandez.
“This was sent to me by an officer from the Northeast,” wrote the Lieutenant. “I am concerned about the drone program and the fact we are not allowed to write parking violations for vehicles owned by the City of El Paso.”
That email is [emphasas added to highlight specific points mentioned in this article]:
• Drone pilot program to start at CRCC on March 1- dayshift. EPPD Drone pilots will deploy drones to certain calls in the CRCC area to support patrol operations.
• Project for an automated log sheet has begun, NOI.
• Policy sent out on cancelling case numbers
• Marked city vehicles will NOT be issued parking citations
• Incidents of negligent discharge involving off duty law enforcement personnel require immediate notification to your chain for further instruction. Do not present to DIMS/ADA.
• 53 suvs are slated for patrol citywide. Three different waves for dispersing these suvs should occur within/in 6 months.
• Email me any issues your shift may encounter with Allied, DIMS, ADA, or the EPCDF. There is new leadership in most of these entities, and regular meetings will be held to discuss and iron out issues.
• Ensure that lieutenants, sergeants, CID have a greeting on city assigned landlines at the region and that a message can be left in the inbox by a caller. A full in box where no more messages can be left or one that has not been set up for messages is unacceptable.
Ignacio Hernandez- Commander
El Paso Police Department
Northeast Regional Command Center
Let’s start with Drones. Drones in the hands of law enforcement should cause us all some level of concern, even though they can positively impact policing.
There are many tactical situations where drone usage would benefit police departments.
During hostage and standoff situations, drones can provide an overwatch of the scene and help track activity in and around the area.
A drone can help with situational awareness in both SWAT and active shooter situations. Where suspects can hide in bushes, behind walls, or other obstructions, drones can see into these areas, saving an officer from being in a suspect’s line of fire.
The above examples are positive uses of drones within police departments. Potential for abuse lies in areas such as drug interdictions, civil unrest, protests, converting large events, and surveillance in crime-ridden areas.
Anyone who has utilized a drone in large crowds, for example, knows the dangers of trying to track a single individual.
“In New York City,” says Kai Jung, a retired police officer and a photographer I’ve worked with in the past, “I wanted to use a drone to track my model as she walked through Times Square. How was I to know I would lose her because two other ladies were dressed in the same outfits?”
Later, when Kai was culling his work product, he noticed, after enlarging some of the images and examining the recorded video closely, that there were minor differences in what the women were wearing.
“Shoes, a scarf,” says Kai, “minor differences you don’t notice as you go. If I were still a peace officer, I wouldn’t have been able to trust my judgment on the scene to ensure I was still following the designated suspect. Problematic at best.”
“There are reasons you may not want the police to have a drone, even when supporting a call or patrol,” says Michael Messer, a law student who seeks to specialize in privacy concerns. “What is to stop the officer from saying he saw something while traversing your yard or saying he heard a scream or commotion? What about faulty facial recognition technology that tries to work from drone footage?”
In the case of facial recognition, Michael spoke of a case out of California in which drones were not involved.
“In 2019 and 2020, there were three Black men arrested and jailed for crimes they never committed after police used facial recognition to misidentify the actual criminals,” says Michael.
This case involved facial recognition matching these suspects with individuals in a state database. In the end, the actual suspects were not even Black men.
“These men were set free,” says Michael Messer. “The problem is, when the archival footage or photos being used for facial recognition is faulty, out of focus, or poorly lit, these mistakes will occur.”
We need to ensure that there are protocols in place ensuring that the El Paso Police Department, or any Department, will not misuse drones.
“We are about to see an onslaught of cases made using drones in El Paso,” says Albert Mendoza, a criminal defense attorney who retired to El Paso. “Questions that may sway a jury would be along the lines of what was the probable cause for officers to deviate a drone from watching traffic to patroling backyards, where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
One could create the scenario: the police support patrol in a situation involving a large crowd. The officer operating the drone can say he hears a woman scrambling a block away and decides to divert the drone. While searching where he perceived the scream to come from, he came across a backyard with a woman lying on the ground and a man running into the house.
Officers are dispatched to the home. When speaking to the man and woman, they both say they were not fighting but rather playing with the dog. The dog knocked the woman down and ran into the house. Maybe the Police don’t believe the story and arrest the man anyway.
“There are cases where the State becomes the complaining witness if they feel there is enough evidence to back the charge,” says Albert Mendoza. “There are times when a female victim doesn’t want to press charges, so the State does. In your scenario, I can see that happening.”
Vigilance is needed when it comes to Police departments and drones, and in the case of EPPD, even more so.
According to Commander Ignacio Hernandez’s email, parking citations will no longer be issued to marked City of El Paso vehicles.
“I park my company truck in a no-parking space,” says Jesus Meraz, an El Paso business owner. I will get that ticket, but a City employee won’t. Shouldn’t the city lead by example?”
Anyone living in El Paso, Texas, has seen marked City vehicles, and one only barring “Texas Exempt” license plates park where they shouldn’t.
“I was going to the Walmart for some things for my husband and me,” says El Paso resident Maria Esparza. “This code [compliance] truck was parked in the handicap space. Why was he there in that space? There was no handicap thing hanging on his mirror.”
Maria, like Jesus, was just one of the many visitors to the El Paso Home and Garden show with whom I shared Commander Ignacio Hernandez’s email.
“It’s like that saying from a few years ago,” says William Brand. “It’s ‘rules for thee, but not for me.’”
I asked Albert Mendoza to review both City and State laws to see if any language within those laws exempts vehicles owned by the City of El Paso from receiving citations.
“The City of El Paso does not charge parking frees to vehicles they own if they are parking in a garage owned by the municipality,” says Mr. Mendoza. “I couldn’t find any legislation or ordinance that says they may not receive parking citations.”
When she read the email, Cynthia Ramos wondered, “Doesn’t the law apply to everyone? “If I can get a ticket, they should also.”
Incidents of negligent discharge involving off duty law enforcement personnel require immediate notification to your chain for further instruction. Do not present to DIMS/ADA.
In the latter part of 2024, Chief Julia Inciriaga was sitting at her desk at the Five Points Regional Command of the El Paso Police Department. While handling her sidearm, after not properly clearing that sidearm, she discharged a round that went through the wall of her office.
Negligent discharge of a firearm can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances. Potential penalties include jail time, fines, and loss of firearm rights. It can and should be a crime. The El Paso Police Department seems to believe it should all be handled in-house.
“What Inciriaga did should have caused her to be fired, not moved and demoted, and should have been presented to DIMS,” says an officer with the El Paso Police Department.
The District Attorney’s Information Management System (DIMS) is a program used by the El Paso Police Department to process criminal cases. DIMS helps to speed up the process of charging and bonding suspects.
“I read the articles about that cop shooting her gun at the police station,” says Robert Garza. “Thinks like that should be sent to the DA so they can decide if it’s is a crime. Them [the El Paso Police Department] not telling the DA, that should be a crime!”
You can read about Inciriaga and her actions by clicking here.
If an El Paso Police Department Commander orders Officers under his command not to issue citations to City-owned vehicles and advises officers to hide what could potentially be a crime, like negligently discharging a firearm, how can they be trusted not to violate the law when using drones?
“I am ninety-one years old,” says Grace McCombs, “and I have seen the good and bad the El Paso Police have done. What I am thinking now, after reading that email, is that the Police are going to a new low.”
“The Chief is out of his depth,” says one officer’s voicemail about the incident with Inciriaga. “He wants to be better than Allen, but he can’t. He’s had opportunities to be transparent, but he won’t do it. What Julie did would have been something Allen would have gone public with, not hide from the light of day.”