Las Vegas Police to Expand Drone System with 13 Skyports

Described as "where the real leap begins," the next stage of Las Vegas police's Project Blue Sky drone initiative will have just over a dozen skyports scattered among police and fire stations.

By Kyle Chouinard

Source Las Vegas Sun

Sept. 11, 2025

3 min read

What to know

Las Vegas police is expanding its Project Blue Sky drone initiative with 13 skyports that will store and remotely deploy drones across the area to support faster response times.
Since October, drones have helped locate suspects in 169 incidents and aided in 386 arrests, with the new system allowing centralized pilots to launch drones within seconds of a call.
Officials emphasized the focus on violent calls, collaboration with neighboring agencies and strict flight logging to address privacy concerns as testing continues ahead of full rollout by year’s end.

A drone set is to launch from one of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's skyports, which mark the next stage of the agency's Project Blue Sky drone initiative.

Las Vegas police today announced the next stage of its drone operations, advancing from using the small aircraft in the field to a system of 13 skyports storing the department's drones for remote deployment.

Metro Police started its drone initiative, Project Blue Sky, in October. Since then, the technology has been used to locate suspects in 169 instances and aided in 386 arrests, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said at a press conference.

The new remote drone program is "where the real leap begins," Koren said.

Metro's skyports, which are designed to hold three drones each, will be scattered among local police and fire stations. Koren said that would give LVMPD "coverage in nearly all of our key areas across the valley."

"What, from my perspective, once sounded like science fiction ... is now becoming a reality here in Las Vegas as we push the limits of technology," Koren said. "And with it comes faster response times, better decision making for our officers and, ultimately, more lives saved."

Pilots at a central location will be able to respond to requests for police services with a drone overhead "almost in seconds," Koren said. Where the remote pilots will be stationed hasn't yet been finalized.

The crew will be made up of a "mix of commissioned officers and civilian specialists."

"We want to save lives," the assistant sheriff said. "To that end, right now, our focus is going to be on violent calls, but if there's a call for service and we have a drone available, we can assist."

Koren also addressed potential privacy and civil liberty concerns from the use of the drones, telling reporters that every flight is related to an active incident and logged. Drone cameras will also be pointed upward while traveling to avoid collecting "unnecessary data," Koren said.

Locals can expect to see Metro's remote drones in the sky in a few weeks where skyports are operational. Metro is looking to have each skyport complete by the end of the year and is already conducting test flights, Koren said.

He added that it's Metro's intent to use the technology in collaboration with other local agencies, such as North Las Vegas' or Henderson's police departments. Koren said his department is in early conversations with Henderson on that collaboration.

Much of the cost, if not the majority, for the drone project comes from donations, Koren said.

Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz previously provided money for Metro to purchase a group of its Skydio drones, TechCrunch reported in November. Skydio has been backed by Horowitz's firm, Andreeson Horowitz, also known as a16z.

"We're not waiting for the future of policing," Koren said. "We're building it here in Las Vegas, and in doing so, I think we're going to set an expectation for law enforcement across the globe."

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