LAPD secures $9.8 million DHS grant to protects city’s airspace from drones

Los Angeles Police Department officials on Tuesday approved a $9.8 million federal grant to protect the city from potential drone attacks.

The city’s so-called Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems grant will fund a slew of efforts to combat illegal drones that “pose a threat to the safety and security of the American people,” according to police documents.

The five-member LAPD Police Commission on Tuesday gave LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell‘s anti-drone plan a green light.

McDonnell’s plan for the money now goes to City Hall for review by Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.

The city’s civilian Police Commission last week approved a $2.1 million expansion of the LAPD’s fleet of aerial drones.

McDonnell on Tuesday sang the praises of drone technology, relating the story of a 911 call on Friday for a man with a shotgun, where one of the LAPD’s firsts-responder drones arrived before officers.

The drone’s “real time aerial observations confirmed the suspect’s location … which helped to reduce the risk to responding personnel and the community,” said McDonnell.

The suspect was arrested without incident thanks in part to the drone assist, McDonnell said.

The $9.8 million reimbursement-only grant for McDonnell’s new anti-drone plan comes from the federal Department of Homeland Security, as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The Act provides $500 million in funding nationwide to enhance “state and local capabilities to detect identify track or monitor unmanned aircraft,” according to LAPD documents.

The LAPD plans to use the $9.8 million to install two dozen radio frequency sensors across the city to detect the presence of threatening drones, in addition to mobile drone mitigation stations to destroy illegal drones.

Drone mitigation uses technology like radio frequency jamming, cyber takeovers, nets or lasers to disrupt or destroy dangerous drones.

Police officials said the LAPD’s anti-drone tactics will lean heavily on cyber takeovers, which disrupt communications to drones and force them to return home to their operators.

The LAPD’s drone-disrupting stations will be installed at LAPD headquarters and the Mt. Lee Communications tower at Griffith Park, which is located directly behind the park’s famed “Hollywood” sign.

The money will also go to fund a handheld drone mitigation device, a mobile drone tracking team, and a counter-drone “Command & Control tracking system,” according to the police documents.

Combatting threats from potential drone attacks and “restoring American airspace sovereignty” are top priorities for the Trump Administration.

The federal government is spending $115 million on counter-drone programs to secure the 2026 FIFA World Cup venues and celebrations of America’s 250th birthday this summer, according to DHS.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said last month drones “represent the new frontier of American air superiority.”

Since 2018, DHS has conducted more than 1,500 missions against illicit drone activities, the federal agency said.

The new $9.8 million program planned for the LAPD is part of that national effort, police documents state.

The $2.1 million in drone funding approved by the LAPD’s civilian oversight board will go to expand the city’s “Drone as First Responder” pilot — which sends drones to 911 calls before officers arrive.

Funding for the $2.1 million expansion of drone first responders comes from the LA Police Foundation, a private, nonprofit that raises money from wealthy individuals and corporations to fund LAPD programs, equipment and initiatives that aren’t covered by the city budget.

The LAPD isn’t the only American police force to take on drones in a big way. The NYPD could deploy its first anti-drone defense system in time for major events in the city this summer, including the massive celebration of the country’s 250th birthday in New York Harbor.