How DFR is driving San Francisco’s drop in auto theft and larceny

Commander Tom Maguire explains how San Francisco’s Real Time Investigation Center uses a “team of teams” approach, combining skilled officers with tools like automated license plate readers, Skydio drone-as-first-responder systems, cameras, and analytics to support short-staffed patrol units, respond faster, and act with more precision.

By centralizing drone operations and ALPR in the RTIC, they can quickly identify suspect vehicles and people, coordinate plainclothes and patrol responses, and avoid unnecessary pursuits or stops, which improves safety, reduces use-of-force risk, and builds stronger cases for prosecutors. He highlights dramatic crime reductions, including about a 44% drop in auto theft and a roughly 74% drop in auto burglary over two years, attributing those results to both technology and the people using it well. Real examples include catching organized retail thieves, stopping auto burglary crews in tourist areas, and intercepting armed suspects in stolen cars by quietly disabling vehicles and guiding low-key arrests.

Maguire stresses that agencies of any size can start small with a computer, radio, a few motivated people, and basic tech, then scale up, and he notes growing national and international interest in this model as departments look to modernize public safety while minimizing collateral harm.