Talent staff to apply for police drone grant; chief outlines restricted uses and retention

City staff told the council they plan to submit a competitive Community Investment and Innovation (CIIS) grant request that could provide up to $1,000 toward a police drone and associated training; staff estimated the total purchase and training costs could be roughly $5,000 and noted the application window closes soon.

Police Chief Snook described operational limits and policy guardrails for drone use. "Primary uses are for search functions of subjects that might be considered dangerous — not surveillance — getting information prior to going into a high‑risk call," she said. She listed fleeing‑subject searches, crime‑scene searches, missing‑person searches, and pre‑entry assessment of armed‑person calls as likely uses.

Councilors asked whether footage would be retained. The chief said recordings used in active criminal investigations would be stored in the department’s Axon evidence system and retained according to case retention schedules (the minimum could be two years; some evidence could be retained longer depending on the case). The chief said the department would adopt or provide a written drone-use policy before sending officers to training.

Staff framed the item as an informational heads-up and said they would submit the grant application given the competitive, rolling nature of funding; they also offered to return with a deeper policy briefing if council wants a fuller discussion. Several councilors asked that the drone topic be scheduled alongside the automated camera (Flock) conversation so the community can see clear guidelines about what the city would and would not do.

Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are Chief Snook and City Manager Alex Campbell.