Los Altos renews military‑equipment policy and authorizes drone first‑responder program with Axon

Los Altos — The City Council on Nov. 12 voted to renew its military‑equipment policy (Policy 709) required by AB 481 and to authorize acquisition steps for two Skyo X10 drones that the police department plans to use in a Drone First Responder (DFR) program.

Captain Krauss presented the request and described the hardware and proposed policy changes that would allow limited pre‑warrant planning use and expand an exigency‑style clause to permit deployments “anytime a drone would enhance public safety, improve operational safety, incident stabilization or incident mitigation on a call for service.” Krauss emphasized that the drones under consideration would be unarmed and used for observation only.

“We are requesting the approval for purchasing two items that would fall under the policy, which are drones,” Captain Krauss said, noting the drones were described as American‑made and built with thermal sensors and multiple navigation cameras.

Why it matters: City staff said the Skyo drones (presented through Axon Air Sky / Axon Enterprise as vendor) would integrate with the department’s CAD and body‑worn camera systems and upload footage into evidence.com for retention if marked evidentiary; non‑evidentiary footage would be purgeable. Staff proposed a five‑year contract that includes hardware, docks, software, training, unlimited digital storage and a 2.5‑year refresh, with an approximate annualized contract cost of $115,000 (the AB 481 per‑drone item estimate cited was $15,000 each).

Council members pressed staff and the vendors on cybersecurity, data storage alternatives (evidence.com versus Skyo cloud), safety and airspace deconfliction, altitude limits, training and pilot licensing. Vendor representatives said anti‑collision and airspace deconfliction work is ongoing, that thermal and standard optical cameras are included, and that the train‑the‑trainer model would be used to certify local pilots and dispatchers.

Public commenters including a representative of Los Altos for Representation and Equity expressed conditional support citing data‑security attributes; other residents asked for clearer 'authorized uses' language and stronger public reporting. Janine Valadez asked the council to consider a lower operational ceiling (200 feet) to address privacy concerns.

Council action: The council introduced and waived further reading of the ordinance renewing Policy 709 and later unanimously approved a motion authorizing the city manager to execute an amendment with Axon Enterprise, Inc. not to exceed $570,000 to add a Drone First Responder program. Council members asked staff to include a summary of any new equipment usage in the department’s annual AB 481 report and to provide robust community outreach before drones are placed in service.

Next steps: Staff estimated docks and operational deployment could be in place within two to three months after contract execution and site infrastructure work (power/Ethernet) is complete. The council required return notice and indicated it will receive an annual report on equipment usage.