Council hears public-safety updates on drones, pursuits, council notification and police headquarters timeline

City public-safety leaders updated council on several safety issues: the Cleveland Police drone program is active, the Division of Fire is working to stand up a drone-first-responder capability, council pressed for improved cross-jurisdiction pursuit protocols after recent fatal crashes, and Capital Projects staff said the new police headquarters remains on schedule for phased completion with occupancy planned before the end of October 2026.

Police and fire drones

Commander Musil (Division of Police) told the committee: "The division of Police currently owns and operates 9 Skydio x10 drones. We have 9 trained pilots..." He said operators were mobilized for recent events including concerts and playoff games, and an operator was called for a missing juvenile and for a fleeing suspect earlier the same day. The police drones are centrally housed to allow 24-hour readiness because the systems require charging and software updates.

City planning and fire staff said the Division of Fire is in early planning for a drone-first-responder program to augment response on lakes and highways and to give firefighters and EMS improved real-time situational awareness. A fire official said they are identifying pilots, placement locations and the model drone to begin an evaluation phase and would aim to have initial capability operating by year-end.

Pursuit policy and cross-jurisdiction coordination

Council members raised concern after a recent pursuit that ended in a fatality on the city's northeast side. The director and legal staff explained that municipal pursuit policies are created and enforced locally and that state law gives law-enforcement agencies powers to pursue across jurisdictions in certain circumstances. Assistant law staff summarized that Ohio law allows pursuit into another jurisdiction when the offense occurred without unreasonable delay, was initiated within the agency's political subdivision and involved qualifying offenses (felonies or certain point-bearing traffic violations).

Council members asked the administration to press suburban partners and the county for a coordinated approach. The director said such discussions have occurred in the past and encouraged convening county chiefs and municipal leaders to seek shared recommendations, while noting any uniform pursuit policy would remain a voluntary administrative agreement for other departments.

Council notification and information flow

Several council members said they are not getting consistent, timely notifications when violent incidents or serious crimes occur in their wards. The director said the administration makes its best efforts to notify the council of major incidents, described constraints imposed by victim-privacy rules (citing Marsy's Law) and said the department would work to improve follow-up and notification on major incidents. Members requested a follow-up report and more proactive notification for homicides, major assaults and similar incidents.

Police headquarters construction update

Mark Dulick, manager of architecture and site development for Capital Projects, said the Artcraft building restoration, Cat 4 addition and garage are progressing. He said the parking garage is substantially complete and that permanent power will be connected mid-October, which permits elevator and systems testing. The project team projects building occupancy for parts of the headquarters before the end of October 2026; substantial completion dates cited for components were mid-July and June of 2026.

Council direction and next steps

Council asked for an accident-investigation report on the recent pursuit-related crash and said it would coordinate with the council president to request a countywide conversation about pursuit policies and cross-jurisdiction notification procedures. Officials agreed to follow up on those requests.

Ending

Council framed the updates as a mix of operational improvements (drones, headquarters) and outstanding policy work (pursuit coordination, notification), and asked staff to return with requested reports and any recommended administrative agreements to reduce cross-jurisdiction risk.