Council lays over police drone grant application after privacy, process questions

City councilmembers on a unanimous vote laid over a police Department resolution authorizing an application for a DOJ COPS microgrant to expand the department's docked drone program after several members said they needed more information about scope, budget and privacy protections.

Council member Kim asked for the "scope of work" and whether the grant would create new city costs; DC Hallstrom said the proposal is to expand the existing program and that "The proposed budget was $200,000 in the fiscal year 2728." Hallstrom said data from the drones would be collected into the department's Axon evidence-management platform and that retention schedules and privacy rules vary by category.

Several council members, including Vice President Yang and Council Member Coleman, said the item merited more public discussion and review after recent city debate over surveillance technology. Vice President Yang said she had heard community requests to "don't support FLOC, don't support the Skydio contract" and asked whether the proposed grant was related; DC Hallstrom replied, "This is not flock related. Has absolutely 0 to do with flock," and explained the drones under consideration are Skydio devices tied to Axon systems.

After questions about who owns drone data (Hallstrom said the city does) and whether the public can view flight records (Hallstrom said flight logs are posted publicly within 12 hours), the council voted to lay the resolution over for one week to allow members time for further review. The motion passed 7–0.