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Upper Arlington police detail wellness apps, training and drone plan after overnight incident
Summary
Chief Hall told council a ‘serious incident’ from the prior night is under investigation but poses no ongoing danger; the police presented software and wellness initiatives, an SRO expansion, and plans to put a drone in service pending FAA approval.
Acting Council President Lynch invited the Upper Arlington Police Division to brief council on its annual report and department priorities. Chief Hall opened the presentation by saying a serious incident occurred the previous night and the investigation is ongoing. “What I can say is there’s no danger to anyone, and we’re working with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office to wrap it all up and present charges soon,” Chief Hall said. He offered condolences to the family involved and praised the response of police and fire personnel.
Dr. Lehi Odenthal, professional standards coordinator, reviewed the department’s recently purchased Power Professional software suite and the deployment timeline for each module. “PowerReady is the field training program…that one is already up and running,” Odenthal said, adding the department is developing training for incident-reporting and internal-affairs tools ahead of scheduled rollouts. He said the background-screening module (PowerVetted) has a planned implementation date of Dec. 6 and the incident-reporting module is being readied for a January rollout.
Lieutenant Brandon Steiger described officer-wellness initiatives and peer support. He said the peer support team includes eight trained members and has provided 126 one-on-one sessions to officers to date; the department has issued cellphones and plans to deploy a wellness app for anonymous 24/7 support. Steiger also updated council on an e‑citations pilot: eight patrol officers are field‑testing the electronic citation system with a target for full implementation in late 2025 or early 2026.
A department lieutenant briefed council on technology investments: UAPD has 15 members pursuing FAA pilot certification and expects to take delivery of a department drone next month pending FAA waivers. Staff said that, once authorized, the drone will be used for public-safety and mutual public-safety benefits. The department also noted a detective was sworn in as a DEA agent and said federal equitable-sharing funds have supported cross‑department technology and school and drug-education programs.
Sergeant Brian McKean summarized the school resource officer (SRO) program. McKean said the program began as a pilot in 2015, expanded to middle and elementary schools in 2018, now serves roughly 6,700 students in the district, and recently placed an SRO at Wellington private school (Officer Brandon Reese). McKean said SROs focus on campus safety and relationship-building and work alongside diversion and juvenile-court options when enforcement is required.
Council members asked about SRO staffing and vendor selection for the drone. Councilwoman Munson asked whether the district has one SRO per school; staff clarified assignment patterns (one high-school SRO, an SRO in each middle school, a coverage officer and the Wellington placement). On procurement, Chief Hall said the department prioritized U.S.-based technology to avoid potential compatibility and legal issues with certain foreign-manufacturer equipment.
The briefing concluded with council members thanking the department for its response to the overnight incident and for the broad program updates. The department said it would share more detailed training summaries with council on request.
