The Worcester City Council approved an order brought by Councilor Kate Toomey on Tuesday, Sept. 30, for a report on the feasibility of launching a drones as first responders (DFR) program within the Worcester Police Department.
Councilor Moe Bergman suggested a pilot would cost around $30,000 if the city moved forward, which he expressed enthusiastic support for. Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson also indicated she’s support such a program.
A DFR program uses unmanned drones to provide information to law enforcement and fire department personnel prior to the physical arrival of first responders.
Toomey specifically mentioned Chula Vista, California, where she said the program has already been shown to be effective.
Within three years of launching its program, the City of Chula Vista allocated $1.5 million to its DFR program.
Chula Vista, California
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Chula Vista has a population of 274,344, or 66,715 residents more than Worcester. The city is also larger than Worcester, spanning 52 square miles compared to Worcester’s 38.4 square miles. Chula Vista and Worcester have similar population densities, with 5,276 of population per square mile in Chula Vista compared to 5,407 per square mile in Worcester.
The median household income is over $106,000 with a poverty rate of six percent, compared to Worcester’s median household income of under $70,000 and a poverty rate of 20.9 percent.
The number of police officers in Chula Vista, 297, equates to 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents. The Worcester FY 2026 budget provides for 463 officers, or 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, near the national average.
The City of Chula Vista, California, in the San Diego area, began one of the nation’s first DFR programs in 2018. Its pilot, which included a single drone, and the associated software, cost just $2,500.
By 2021, the city budget of Chula Vista allocated $1.5 million to the program. In the years since 2021, the city declined to provide a line item for the program to show its costs in its annual budget. According to the inflation calculator provided online by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota, $1.5 million in 2021 is equivalent to $1.78 million in 2025.
Since 2018, the DFR program in Chula Vista has responded to 20,000 calls for service and assisted in 3,038 arrests. In 2021 alone, the Chula Vista Police Department responded to over 28,000 incidents or calls for service.
San Bernardino, California, has a population of 223,706, and population density of 3,602 residents per square mile (Worcester – 5407 per sq. mile) according to the U.S. Census Bureau. San Bernardino County announced funding in June to start a DFR program within the San Bernardino Police Department, with a cost of $750,000.
Various reports say that between 40 percent and 60 percent of DFR programs are for personnel.
Worcester’s Police Resources Are Not Limited
Councilor Toomey also said that a DFR program increases effective time management by “making sure our limited resources are sent to the correct place.”
The City of Worcester FY 2026 budget provides for 463 sworn police personnel, equivalent to 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, which is about the national average. In an email response from an official Worcester Police Department spokesperson on July 25, the department had 447 sworn officers at the last count then available, or 96.5% of its budgeted personnel.
The Chula Vista Police Department has 297 sworn officers, or 1.1 officers per 1,000 residents.
When excluding the Worcester Public Schools budget, which is primarily funded by the state, the FY 2026 City of Worcester budget provides funding of $63.4 million for the Worcester Police Department, or 17 percent of the total budget. The Worcester Fire Department allocation of $49.3 million represents 13.2 percent of the budget.
Councilors unanimously supported the order for the administration to return a report on the feasibility of a DFR program, but several expressed reservations.
