San Rafael advisory committee backs leasing drone-as-first-responder system, urges council review

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — At its April 16 meeting, the Police Advisory and Accountability Committee heard a presentation from Lieutenant Eberly of the San Rafael Police Department on Assembly Bill 481 and voted unanimously to recommend the City Council approve a lease for a drone-as-first-responder system.

Lieutenant Eberly told the committee the system under consideration would cut average response times on high-priority calls and be integrated with the department’s computer-aided dispatch. “We will not share this drone footage. And the data is all is stored on an AWS secured system for 30 days, and then it is deleted, forever deleted,” Eberly said during the presentation.

The recommendation matters because AB 481 requires jurisdictions to hold public meetings and report on certain law-enforcement equipment, and because the drone system carries an expected recurring cost of roughly $150,000 per year. Committee members and a crowd of residents debated the expected public-safety benefits — faster locating of suspects and missing people, thermal imaging for fires and maritime rescues, and evidence collection — against civil- liberties and privacy concerns voiced by several public commenters.

Eberly summarized the police report and the AB 481 obligations: agencies must report how military equipment was used, complaints and audits, costs and quantities, and any planned acquisitions. He described existing categories of equipment the department holds and reviewed last year’s uses of allied-agency drones and the department’s armored rescue vehicle. The department reported no complaints or violations in the last two years.

On the proposed DFR system, Eberly said the department is requesting a leased system that would include a rooftop docking station, automatic battery swaps, ADS‑B (automatic dependent surveillance‑broadcast) tracking for airspace safety, and CAD integration so a supervisor could approve a launch when a call meets the threshold. Key technical and operational details discussed at the meeting:

- Cost: approximately $150,000 per year (lease, software, setup, training and maintenance included in the staff presentation).

- System design: planned initial deployment of two docks (primary downtown; secondary in the north of the city), with the manufacturer providing ongoing replacement and upgrades; the department described a 4‑mile nominal radius but noted operational limits based on battery life and topography. Eberly said the vendor supplies 16 batteries; the drone’s single‑battery flight endurance is about 42 minutes and the dock can swap a battery in under two minutes.

- Data and privacy: the department said the drones would not run facial‑recognition software, that recorded footage would be stored on an AWS system for 30 days and downloaded into evidence storage only for evidentiary value or public‑records requests, and that the policy prohibits sharing footage with federal immigration enforcement. “The drone does not have or utilize any facial recognition software. It does not,” Eberly said.

- Use policy: staff emphasized the policy language limits use to life‑and‑property incidents or calls that would otherwise warrant officer deployment; the department stated the system is not for routine or suspicionless surveillance and the camera will be angled horizontally during transit to reduce inadvertent downward viewing.

During public comment, dozens of residents — including several speakers from the Canal neighborhood and groups that identified themselves as community advocates — expressed mixed views. Some supported the technology as a response‑time and safety tool for victims and neighborhoods that feel underserved; others urged more analysis of misuse risks, independent audits of bias, and clearer community oversight mechanisms before deployment.

After discussion, Member Locks moved that the committee recommend the City Council approve the lease contract to acquire the drone‑as‑first‑responder system; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously on a roll‑call vote. Member Locks read the motion aloud: “I move that the committee recommend to the city council the approval and lease contract of using a drone.”

Committee members requested that staff gather and answer outstanding public questions — including requests for historical deployment locations, demographic analyses of deployments, and technical details about data handling — and transmit those responses and the military‑equipment report to the City Council. Staff indicated the item will be scheduled for City Council review on June 2 at 6 p.m.

The committee’s action is advisory; final authority to approve the lease rests with the City Council. The department said formal policy language (Policy 706) will be finalized or amended as needed prior to implementation and that training, FAA approvals and operational procedures remain to be completed before deployment.

The committee’s vote and the department’s report on AB 481 will be included in the packet the department brings to the June 2 City Council meeting.