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 a drone-as-first-responder pilot the department says will speed scene assessment for medical calls, collisions, fires, and other priority incidents, while committing to transparency, data publication and policy guardrails developed with public input and the Police Advisory and Accountability Committee (PAC).

Eberly and Police Chief Spiller framed the request with operational detail and safeguards. The department’s 2024 military-equipment annual report attached to the staff report documented 13 prior requests for county drones, two deployments of an armored rescue vehicle and three uses of a less-lethal impact device; the report noted zero complaints and no internal policy violations in 2023–24. The department’s staff recommendation presented three options: adopt the resolution as written, adopt with changes, or decline.

Eberly said the proposed DFR drones have top speeds up to 53 mph, flight time over 42 minutes, thermal imaging and a 400x zoom. He described an automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS‑B) safety feature to detect nearby aircraft and trigger pilot alerts or automatic descent. Eberly said drones would be stationed to cover downtown San Rafael and the Terralinda neighborhood and stressed that the department’s policy prohibits random surveillance and weaponization of the systems.

Council members pressed on privacy, operational control and data retention. Vice Mayor Bushey asked whether the equipment could be weaponized; Eberly answered that the vendor does not offer conversion features and the local policy forbids weaponization. Council questions established that a human pilot will control camera focus and that video would be retained on the department’s servers for 30 days, and transferred to evidence systems only when footage becomes evidentiary. The department said it will redact personally identifying information for public records releases.

PAC engagement and public comment were a central part of the record. Eberly reported two PAC presentations (November 2024 and April 2025) and said the April PAC meeting served as the required public meeting for the annual report; the PAC voted unanimously, 7–0, in favor of implementing the DFR program. During the council meeting, PAC vice chair Dariush (identified in public comment as vice chair of PAC) spoke in favor of the program, noting safety and response benefits for neighborhoods with longer travel times to the Public Safety Center. Other public commenters raised privacy and civil‑liberties concerns and urged stricter limits; Sharon Adema said greater local deployment “represents a shocking and heartbreaking breakdown of trust” if residents are extensively surveilled.

The council adopted the resolution and authorized the city manager to execute the Flock contract; the roll call vote was Vice Mayor Bushey — Aye; Council member Hill — Aye; Council member Kurtz — Aye; Council member Yiran Scarlatti/Edensiglotti — Aye; Mayor Kate — Aye. The resolution directs implementation under SRPD Policy 706 and requires annual reporting under AB 481.

Ending: Council members and staff said they expect further refinement of operational rules and will receive annual reports; the department also committed to public deployment data via the vendor dashboard and to returning to the council if major policy changes are proposed.