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Fairfield Township police present drone proposal; board asks for formal packet and to place purchase on next agenda
Summary
Police presented a proposal to buy two drones and establish policy and a position description. Funding sources cited were the drug law enforcement fund and equitable sharing; board asked staff to return with the full procurement packet for a vote at the next meeting.
Jerome, a representative of the Fairfield Township Police Department, presented a proposal for a law‑enforcement drone unit at the board’s Aug. 14 meeting and asked the trustees to consider authorizing purchase and program documents.
Jerome said the department identified several recent incidents — a suicidal person armed with a pistol, a search warrant served that morning, shots fired near the township and multiple missing‑person searches including children with special needs — where an on‑call drone would have aided response time. He said Fairfield Township is one of only two jurisdictions in Butler County without a drone and described the operational benefits of rapid aerial assessment for police and fire.
The police presentation included four components the department proposed to bring forward: a job/position description for a drone unit, a drone‑unit policy for the Fairfield Township Police Department, and vendor quotes for two professional drones (the speaker referenced Mavic 3 variants with visual and thermal sensors) and related software (DroneSense) to display feeds in vehicles and at command posts.
Jerome told the board the department had identified funding in existing law‑enforcement accounts — specifically the drug law enforcement fund and an equitable‑sharing fund — and that the requested funding would cover acquisition, training and the software app. He said a captain is already FAA‑certified and that staff expect to post internally to recruit additional licensed remote pilots as needed.
Trustees asked for clarifying materials and details on staffing and usage. Trustee Mackey asked the administrator to schedule the commissioners and engineers to meet with township representatives on related road impacts (separate discussion) and asked for the drone packet to be placed on the next meeting agenda. Several trustees said they wanted a short period to review the four components before a purchase order is issued.
No purchase order was authorized at the meeting; staff said they would prepare the four‑component packet and return with a proposed motion at the next meeting.
