Police chief outlines tech investments — drones, Live 911, GrayKey and cloud records
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Summary
Police Chief David Woolery briefed the council on a strategic plan that emphasizes recruitment and retention, traffic‑safety grants, Live 911 and drone first‑responder programs, and technology purchases including a GrayKey forensic device, in‑car camera replacements and migration of records to Tyler’s cloud service.
Police Chief David Woolery presented Sedalia Police Department updates and 2027 strategic priorities, saying staffing stood at about 47 officers with anticipated losses to the highway patrol and four conditional hires slated to start academy training in January. Woolery credited last year’s market wage adjustment with improving recruitment and retention and described new retention initiatives such as a short duty‑time workout allowance and expanded internship opportunities within the department.
On operational technology, Woolery reviewed the department’s Live 911 and drone‑first‑responder (DFR) programs, saying the combination can get real‑time audio and aerial imagery to officers before traditional dispatch completes all pro‑QA dispatch steps. He gave a specific example in which a drone arrived on scene and confirmed no forced entry at a reported address before patrol units did, and argued the systems are a supplement rather than a substitute for officers.
Woolery outlined several technology requests for council consideration: a GrayKey forensic device subscription (estimated 25 device extractions per year) to reduce reliance on external agencies for locked‑device extractions, completion of in‑car camera fleet replacements (13 vehicles total, eight covered by an earlier grant with three still to replace), a Tyler cloud records migration to avoid replacing local servers, e‑ticketing/license‑lookup upgrades to improve traffic‑stop efficiency, and additional Live 911 licenses so officers in vehicles can hear 911 audio in real time.
Council asked about subscription limits for GrayKey, timelines for server replacement and the perceived benefits of cloud migration. Woolery said GrayKey subscription models typically package a number of device extractions per year and that moving Tyler to the cloud would reduce local server maintenance burdens and improve redundancy.
What’s next: Woolery presented these requests as priorities for next year’s budget and recommended phased procurement to match staffing and funding availability.
