Item 15 - Agreement for Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones)

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Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) February 3, 2026 Page 2 consulting with surrounding agencies about their UAS use, and developing a UAS policy. On August 19, 2025, the City Council voted to renew the Ordinance, which again identified UASs as a potential future purchase. Following the August 19th meeting, the Police Department began engaging with the community through eight meetings held from August 2025 to January 2026, during which drones were discussed and community input was collected. Common themes expressed by community members included the following: interest in using drones as a quick, first-response to calls for service; leveraging drones to assist in enforcing illegal fireworks laws; and responsible and transparent use of drone technology to support public safety. At the August 19, 2025, meeting, the City Council received the Annual Military Equipment Report that indicated the Police Department's intention to request City Council approval to purchase and implement a UAS program, with initial costs not to exceed $250,000. This contract maintains our original objective as proposed to the City Council and further allows us an additional two-year window for further expansion of the program (see fiscal impact). In conducting research and in discussions with the proposed vendor, an opportunity surfaced allowing the Police Department to purchase additional drones at a lower annual cost for an extended contract of three years. This contract approval does not preclude the requirement and the Police Department's obligation to annually present a review of this equipment, as well as other military equipment, to the City Council. The research conducted by the Police Department's drone committee concluded that integrating Axon's Drone as a First Responder (DFR) system with Skydio X10 drones will improve the Department's ability to serve the community by leveraging modern, commonly used drone technology. The DFR system will enable the Police Department to respond to calls for service by deploying strategically placed, dock-based drones throughout the city. The strategically placed drones will directly benefit the community by providing expedited call-for-service response times and gathering critical real-time information about the incident as it develops. Equipped with real-time information from the drone's video stream, the pilot, field-based police supervisors, and responding officers will be able to coordinate their actions more effectively and gather information in direct support of the Department's de-escalation strategy. The Skydio X10 drone also provides the ability to communicate with people on scene, which can prove to be valuable when communicating with victims, witnesses, and suspects prior to the arrival of personnel at the scene. In addition to the Skydio DFR X10 drones, the Skydio R10 patrol drones will improve the Department's ability to respond to emergencies by allowing flights while indoors and in confined spaces. The interior, confined space capability enables police personnel to identify potential dangers, via the high-resolution cameras from a safe distance, without the hazard of direct, face-to-face exposure to any potential threat. As with the X10