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City council reviews drones, traffic cameras and Placer AI location data as part of proposed surveillance‑technology policy
Summary
Urbana City Council heard department briefings on potential drone use by the fire department, Miovision traffic/pedestrian cameras used by public works, and Placer AI mobile‑device location analytics; council members asked about privacy safeguards, data retention and vendor transparency, and asked staff for contract and policy details.
At a Feb. 9 meeting, the Urbana City Council received presentations from the fire department, public works and city administration on surveillance technologies under review for a transparency and usage ordinance.
The fire department said it does not currently operate drones but described potential operational uses — on‑scene sizeups, technical rescues, hazardous‑materials response and training — and supported drafting a written use policy before program implementation. Fire staff said drones would be used as an incident tool (not a continuous surveillance feed) and that recorded footage could be used internally for training.
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