Huntsville Council approves weekend expansion of police drone contract amid public privacy concerns

The Huntsville City Council on Aug. 28 approved a modification to the city’s existing agreement with Skyfire AI Inc. that expands the Police Department’s drone program to add weekend coverage.

Council members voted to authorize “modification number 1” to the contract after staff described the change as the addition of two contracted operators to cover Saturdays and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The motion was seconded and carried.

The council and police officials said the program operates as a first‑responder tool. A city staff representative speaking for the police department said the drones can provide early aerial assessment of incidents so officers arrive with better information about on‑scene risks. “When there is an event and first responders are there, the drones are able to get to that scene before vehicles on the land can get there,” the staff member said.

The vote followed more than a dozen minutes of public comment sharply critical of automated surveillance and the retention and commercial use of collected data. Jeffrey Engel, a Sherwood Park resident affiliated with North Alabama Democratic Socialists of America, urged council members to reject the expansion and said the added cost — which he described as roughly $25,000 per month in public comment — should instead be spent on community programs.

Several speakers asked how long video and sensor data would be stored, whether private companies would host it, and whether the city could limit uses beyond emergency response. Attorney Tierney Gaskin and other speakers read contract terms into the record and warned that some vendor agreements classify raw footage and analytic outputs as company confidential information and that retention policies can permit indefinite storage.

The council did not provide a public tally of the vote at the microphone. No amendment limiting data retention or third‑party use was included in the motion.

Councilmembers said the program has been used as an operational tool and noted the vendor is locally based. The council approved the modification, and staff said the department will continue to operate under federal and state rules governing aviation and public safety operations.

Because multiple residents asked for clearer limits on data use and retention, several council members and staff said they expect the department to provide follow‑up briefings and to share the contract’s terms with the council’s oversight committees.

Votes on the Skyfire modification and other consent items concluded the meeting’s business.

Proponents say the drone program enhances officer and public safety; opponents said civil‑liberties protections and explicit data‑use limits should accompany any expansion.