Highland Village Police ask council to fund cameras, rifle‑rated shields, software and drones to expand patrol capabilities

Highland Village police officials asked the City Council July 8 to approve several equipment purchases and a new drone program intended to broaden officer tools for surveillance, evidence collection and less‑lethal options.

Sergeant Travis Flowers and Commander Jay McCallie presented the department’s request for: additional public‑space surveillance cameras, two rifle‑rated ballistic shields, continued use (and possible purchase) of a department search and reference application called BlueVoice, a second 40‑millimeter less‑lethal impact launcher, and a multi‑part drone package with a negotiated annual maintenance and training contract.

Travis described the ballistic‑shield request as an upgrade from pistol‑rated gear to rifle‑rated shields and said, “the ones we're requesting are rated for rifle rounds...this gives officers more protection when they're making entry to buildings.” He said the plan places additional shields in supervisors’ vehicles so supervisory officers responding to high‑risk calls will have rifle‑rated protection available.

The department described BlueVoice — a cloud‑based search/knowledge tool currently…