Irvine police may join a growing number of public safety agencies using drones to help catch criminals, fight fires and locate missing people.

If the City Council agrees on Tuesday, Sept. 25, to create a drone team, Irvine police would become Orange County’s second law enforcement agency – after Laguna Beach police – to use unmanned aircraft. Anaheim Fire and Rescue has used drones to monitor wildland fires, and several public safety agencies in Los Angeles County and the Inland area also have drone programs.

Drones can help police in cases where it’s physically difficult or dangerous to send an officer, such as a hostage situation or a rescue from rough terrain, Irvine police spokeswoman Kim Mohr said. In other cases, a drone might have superior capabilities to humans, such as covering more ground and using a thermal imaging camera to find a hiding suspect or missing person. If the city creates a police unmanned aircraft program, the proposal is to spend about $29,000 on two drones, a thermal camera and training for a team of four officers, who would have to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements to pilot the drones.

Proposed policies that would govern Irvine’s program include that no drone is ever to be armed, drones won’t be used to serve routine warrants or follow fleeing vehicles, and they won’t conduct surveillance of people or properties that are not part of active criminal investigation, city officials said.