Paradise adopts Smart911 opt‑in alerts and approves adding two first‑responder drones

The Town Council approved the town’s transition to the countywide Smart911 emergency notification platform and approved adding two Brinc drones to the department’s first‑responder toolkit.

Police Chief Reinbold said Code Red was decommissioned after a data breach and that countywide Smart911 now offers opt‑in residential alerts. "If anyone signs up and selects Paradise, you'll receive town and county notifications," he said, explaining that the platform allows residents to add addresses, emergency needs and contact methods. Staff reported roughly 4–500 active opt‑ins for Paradise (the system imported many white‑page listings that inflate the raw count) and urged residents to register ahead of fire season.

On military equipment reporting, Reinbold explained the statutory classification and noted this annual report adds two drones to the town’s program. He described a Brinc rooftop/autonomous drone that integrates with dispatch to reach any point in town limits rapidly, with infrared and night‑vision capability, and an indoor drone for confined spaces. "We anticipate being able to use this for missing people, structure fires and vegetation fires and to get intelligence within a couple of minutes," he said.

Council voted to approve the annual military equipment report and include the two drones in the program. Staff said the police department will finalize operational procedures, pilot training and public information materials as the program stands up.

Next steps: staff will publish information on Smart911 enrollment, distribute evacuation maps and mailers, and bring back operational procedures and training plans for the drone program.