Council weighs time‑sensitive ODOT drone grant for police; privacy and costs divide members

Director Stone told the Finance & Personnel committee on Feb. 9 that the city had an opportunity to participate in an ODOT/FlyOhio program that reimburses up to $300,000 for acquisition and operation of an unmanned aerial system for first‑responder use. The program requires a rapid turnaround: the signed agreement must be returned by Feb. 17 and acquisition within about 90 days; reimbursements are expected within roughly 30 days of a request.

Stone and police staff described the intended uses as providing rapid aerial eyes for incidents such as suspected car break‑ins, voyeurism reports and searches for missing persons, and said the package includes training, standard operating procedures and an initial operational template. They said the systems under consideration do not include facial‑recognition capability and that recording would be triggered by a call or incident rather than continuous random patrol flights. Stone said flight logs and deployment records would be public records under Ohio law.

Public commenters and some council members expressed strong privacy concerns. Rob Delich and others urged strict policy limits to prevent warrantless surveillance and to require clear redaction and retention rules. Member Wood argued the technology has different scale and invasiveness compared with body cameras and cautioned about mission creep and misuse.

Members also raised operational cost questions: Stone said the first years would be reimbursed by the grant but that ongoing subscriptions, cloud storage and maintenance could cost tens of thousands annually thereafter and would require budget decisions.

A motion to move the drone grant item to first reading at full council on Feb. 17 failed for lack of a second, leaving the item at committee for further consideration. Committee members said they would continue to discuss policy limits, training, long‑term costs and the correct scheduling to meet the grant deadline if the council decides to pursue the program.