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Council adopts drone-transparency ordinance requiring public dashboard and monthly reports
Summary
The council adopted an ordinance to require public-facing reporting on NOPD drone uses, monthly reports to council and quarterly committee review; amendment added reporting by other agencies and supervising-officer identity.
The City Council adopted an ordinance creating a public-facing dashboard and reporting requirements for police drone deployments. The measure requires NOPD to submit monthly transparency reports to the full council, appear quarterly before the Criminal Justice Committee, and populate a publicly accessible dashboard of drone use and deployments.
An amendment approved on the floor expanded reporting to include monthly disclosures of which agencies, offices and city departments requested drone deployments and the identity of the supervising officer for each flight. Supporters said the added requirements increase public transparency; Sue Mobley, speaking in favor from the public, said that if drones are used they should be subject to public review and cautioned about risks to vulnerable communities.
The ordinance was adopted as amended with a 7-0 vote.
