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Page council approves drone-as-first-responder program, splits cost with Horseshoe Bend
Summary
The Page City Council authorized purchase of a drone-first-responder system with thermal and night-vision capabilities, approving a $227,323.90 package split with Horseshoe Bend and directing contingency funds to cover Page’s share.
Page — The Page City Council voted Nov. 12 to purchase a drone-as-first-responder (DFR) system to supplement local policing, approving use of contingency and police capital funds to cover half of the $227,323.90 package while Horseshoe Bend will pay the other half.
Lieutenant Ted Bernard, who leads the department’s real-time policing work, told the council the DFR system would be deployed from a powered docking station and could be launched nearly instantly. Bernard said the department already holds FAA Part 107 authorizations for pilots and that the proposed drone includes night-vision and thermal-imaging sensors, enabling faster scene assessment and searches in low light.
Bernard cited a series of local deployments and a case study in which a non-DFR drone took roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes to launch; he said an on-dock DFR unit could reach city locations in roughly 30 seconds once dispatched and provide live 3D-scans and thermal feeds to officers and incident commanders.
Council members pressed staff on costs and operational limits. Staff estimated about 30 minutes of flight time per battery and said the program would rely on battery-swapping and ground support to keep a unit in the air during longer incidents. Bernard said the system uses cellular (5G) links for control and data transmission and that additional batteries and a ground charging workflow would be purchased to support multi-hour operations.
Council also discussed public visibility and community demonstrations; police said they have used drones for crowd monitoring at recent events and for public safety demos.
The mayor’s office and police said the total line-item cost presented was $227,323.90. Under the motion, Horseshoe Bend capital funds will cover $113,661.95 and Page will pay the remaining amount from police capital and contingency. Councilor Pharaoh moved to approve the purchase; the motion passed by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will complete procurement and return to council with contract documents and operational policies, including deployment procedures and FAA-compliant operating rules.
