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Miami Springs council approves police drone program funded by FDLE grant
Summary
The Miami Springs City Council approved two consent items to implement a police drone program funded through an FDLE grant, with police saying the grant covers equipment costs and training is underway for officers to operate drones for search, tactical and crash-scene uses.
The Miami Springs City Council approved two consent items Oct. 27 to establish a police drone program the department says will be funded through a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) grant.
Lieutenant Robert Castillo of the Miami Springs Police Department told the council the drones would "improve our response," providing aerial views for search-and-rescue, tactical overwatch, crime-scene documentation and traffic-crash reconstruction. Castillo said the department recently sent Officer Michael Garcia for FAA Part 107 remote-pilot training and plans to send three more officers for certification.
Castillo described the department's preferred funding approach as a cash-advance option from the FDLE grant and told the council the grant "covers the entire cost." He also said the department was drafting policies and procedures before deployment and that maintenance and servicing would be handled through the vendor they are evaluating.
Council members questioned privacy, mutual-aid use and operational limits. Castillo said the drone would be a situational tool, not used for routine surveillance, and described legal exceptions and safeguards: use under a judge-signed search warrant, for imminent threats to life or property, or to help manage crowds of 50 or more provided policies are in place; he also referenced Secretary of Homeland Security authority for counterterrorism exceptions.
The council discussed response times for county helicopters and whether the program duplicates available resources; staff said helicopters can take 10–15 minutes if available, and drones can provide timely local coverage when aviation resources are unavailable or unsuitable due to nearby airport airspace.
After the presentation and questions, the council approved consent items 10G and 10H in separate voice votes. The public record shows voice approvals but does not include individual roll-call tallies.
Next steps identified in the meeting included finalizing departmental policies, completing additional operator training and executing the grant procurement if the FDLE cash-advance option is accepted.
