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Resident says he recorded no police patrols in neighborhood and asks for clarity on town drones
Summary
A resident told the board he recorded no police patrols in his neighborhood for a week and asked for details about the police department's drone program, including hours flown and budget; the presiding official denied telling officers to avoid the area.
Ken Wei, who said he has lived in Ranlo nine years, told the board he set up a camera in his cul-de-sac for a week and observed no police cars during that time. "I never saw 1 police car," he told commissioners and asked for more community policing in his Mountain View subdivision.
Wei said he had heard—he described it as "an unsubstantiated rumor"—that the mayor told police to "stay out of my neighborhood because it's a ghetto," a claim the presiding official called false at the meeting. "It didn't come to my mouth," the presiding official said in response.
Wei also asked the board for information about the town's drones, saying they fly near his house nearly every day. He asked whether the police operate the drones, how many hours they fly, and how much is budgeted for them. "I would like to know what the Ranlo drones are... Do we use the police to operate the drones? How many hours and how many days do the police sit there and fly the drones? How much is budgeted for these drones?" he asked.
No departmental presentation or staff report on drones or patrol scheduling was provided during this meeting; Wei requested the board address the questions at a future time.
