San Rafael council approves police "drone as first responder" lease and renews military-equipment policy

The San Rafael City Council on Monday voted 5-0 to renew the city’s military-equipment policy for the San Rafael Police Department and to authorize the city manager to sign a lease with Flock Group Incorporated for two “drone as first responder” systems over a 36-month term not to exceed $500,000.

The measure responds to Assembly Bill 481’s annual reporting and approval requirements for military equipment and to the department’s request to add Category 1 unmanned aerial systems to the department inventory. The council passed a resolution that both reauthorized Policy 706 and approved the proposed lease and implementation plan.

City leaders and police said the program is intended to cut response times and bolster officer and public safety. Lieutenant Scott Eberly of the San Rafael Police Department told the council the DFR system “integrates directly with our computer aided dispatch system, allowing drones to automatically deploy to the location of a call,” and said the department expects substantially faster situational awareness before officers arrive.

Nut graf: The council action formalizes…