Grand Forks council to vet yearlong trial of drone-as-first-responder system

Chief Marka introduced a joint police-fire proposal to test a drone-as-first-responder (DFR) program and asked the council whether it was interested in an evaluation period to gather data and use cases before making any long-term financial commitments. “We would be coming in with all of that evaluation data before you and presenting the good and bad of it all and then making a recommendation to either move forward or terminate the program,” Chief Marka said.

Brink representative Jeff Unlock told the council the platform integrates with 9-1-1 and computer-aided dispatch, typically reaches scenes on LTE within about a 3-mile radius and can be configured for agency retention policies. “If there's a 30 day retention period, we will completely delete those videos after 30 days,” Unlock said, adding Brink does not use facial recognition in the system demonstrated and that agencies control features such as license-plate capture.

Council member Osowski pressed for a policy-first approach and warned of privacy risks. “I think these drones often are used for warrantless surveillance,” Osowski said. She urged city and state code to establish what data can be collected and when it can be accessed. City attorney Gostad and other members discussed Fourth Amendment limits and case law as part of that legal review.

Staff described operational safeguards and rollout options: the vendor would train local pilots (police, fire or possibly dispatch staff), the system could be evaluated for up to a year at no equipment cost to the city for year one, and staff would return with recommended policies and an implementation plan. Chief Marka said the city and Motorola are already working with the city attorney to draft appropriate controls. The council directed staff to gather more detail, hold a community meeting to address privacy and operational questions, and return with an implementation strategy and answers before any contractual commitment.