Salt Lake City police request technology, drone and overtime funding as department budget rises

Salt Lake City Police Department leaders told the City Council on May 29 that the department’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget is about $135 million, roughly a $15 million (12.4%) increase from the prior year, with most of the increase attributable to personnel costs, including an 8.7% wage step in the police MOU.

Chief Brian Red and staff said the department is requesting $1.5 million in overtime funding (bringing projected overtime to about $8 million), $35,000 ongoing and roughly $519,001 one‑time for an initial “crime response and monitoring technology” package (cameras and license‑plate readers), and a seed package for a “drone as a first responder” program (about $53,000 ongoing and $95,000 one‑time) to test drones that can be deployed ahead of officers.

Chief Red said early local tests deployed drones to active call locations and in several test calls “over half of the calls were resolved by sending a drone to see that the active incident that was reported was already gone,” which reduced the need to send officers in some cases. He also described the drone footage assisting evidence collection in one assault and described the technology as potentially useful for de‑escalation and officer safety. The department emphasized civil‑liberties safeguards and said it is coordinating with stakeholders and monitoring state legislative developments.

The proposed crime‑monitoring funding would buy additional visible cameras and license‑plate readers (11 LPRs and 18 cameras cited), and the department said the technology helped in a recent investigation of a person driving into pedestrians. Chief Red said the Real‑Time Crime Center and drone program are early‑stage investments; future requests could include personnel depending on program design.

Council members asked about deployment logistics (where drones would be staged, whether drone operators would be sworn officers or civilians), metrics to evaluate the civilian community response program and how technology investments relate to officer headcount. Chief Red said drones could eventually be staged across patrol divisions, that the department is studying whether operators need to be sworn officers or civilian employees and that improved business intelligence and performance tracking is planned. The department also told the council that the community‑response/civilian responders have handled thousands of calls and are seen as an effective, lower‑cost complement to sworn officers.

Ending: The department said it would continue to refine program designs and metrics and coordinate policy and privacy discussions with council, the mayor’s office, the Racial Equity and Policing Commission and state authorities; no formal vote occurred at the work session.