Beaumont council approves $900,000 three‑year drone first‑responder program to give officers aerial 'eyes on' 911 calls

The Beaumont City Council on April 21 approved a three‑year agreement with Flock Safety to implement a drone first‑responder (DFR) program designed to provide near‑instant aerial oversight of 911 calls.

Police Chief presented the proposal, saying the system uses Flock’s aerodyne autonomous flying capability. “The drone was on scene in about 15 seconds and was able to capture every vehicle in that parking lot before the first officer arrived,” the Chief said during the demonstration. Chief described another test in which a drone reached a simulated high‑school scene in a little over a minute and identified a subject; in the real‑life bank alarm demonstration the drones arrived faster than officers.

The program will field four drones with redundancy: as a battery runs low a relief drone will launch so cameras remain on scene. Two rooftop basing locations (city hall and Fire Station 106) are planned so staff estimates citywide coverage in under 90 seconds and response to busier areas in under 60 seconds. Chief said the system can assist police, fire and other departments for initial situational awareness, roof inspections and property checks.

Staff outlined first‑year costs and funding: the vendor is waiving the aerodyne technology fee (advertised at $150,000), the drones and initial equipment are estimated at about $200,000 for year one, and installation/flight‑station costs (electrical/data, flight station computers and other equipment) were estimated at roughly $24,000 per building plus a setup package of about $10,000. The department plans to use salary savings to cover year‑one expenses so there will be no net general‑fund impact in year one; years two and three will be added to future budgets. The council motion identified a total three‑year program cost of $900,000.

To staff the program full time, police proposed converting an anticipated sergeant vacancy into three community service officer (CSO) positions to be trained as drone operators; Chief said that conversion would still produce salary savings of roughly $43,000 compared with the prior sergeant allocation. The department also said the vendor’s service model includes equipment upgrades during the contract so the city would not be purchasing hardware that rapidly becomes obsolete.

Council members asked about data ownership and privacy. The Chief said the city owns the flight data and will determine sharing agreements, and that flight data will remain subject to public‑records law. “We own that data. It's ours. We only share with agencies we choose to,” the Chief said. Council members discussed posting flight summaries on the city website for transparency and noted procedures for handling public‑records requests.

Council also heard the vendor’s description of safeguards: when a drone is dispatched to a call it approaches with cameras oriented to the horizon and points down only when on scene at the dispatched location. Staff said mechanical failures are covered by the vendor’s warranty; operator‑caused losses would be the city’s responsibility under the contract and would require replacement under the agreement.

The council approved the three‑year agreement by unanimous roll call (Council member Laura yes; Council member Finn yes; Council member Martinez yes; Mayor Pro Tim White yes; Mayor Voit yes). The Chief noted outreach plans with Beaumont Unified School District to create a CTE pathway component so local high‑school students can train as drone operators.

What’s next: staff will finalize contract details, schedule rooftop installation work and return to council with budget entries for years two and three. The city said it will publish flight data summaries to its website to increase transparency.