Editorial: Police drones in San Rafael are costly but worth a try

The San Rafael Police Department’s addition of two drones to its public safety toolbox is an example of the force taking advantage of new technology to better do its important job.

The high cost – $500,000 over three years – is reason for concern.

The department has been borrowing the Marin County Sheriff’s Office drones, but they are not always available.

Last year, it asked to borrow it more than a dozen times. Some of those requests were turned down because the county’s drones were not available. In some other cases, the response in deploying the drones was delayed.

Among those calls were a report of a man with a gun (which turned out to be a BB gun) “dancing” around a light pole in Terra Linda, the search for a suspect in a Northgate mall incident, trying to track down a fleeing suspected burglar in Peacock Gap, responding to the scene of gunshots reported in the Canal neighborhood and for a missing man.

The goal of using drones is to provide real-time aerial high-definition video footage that can help in verifying calls and provide information to enable responding officers to be better prepared and develop an initial strategy before they can arrive on the scene. The drones can also reach areas where, because of terrain or hazards, officers would have trouble reaching.

They are tools that can help make a difference, to those calling for help, others in the area and officers rushing to the scene.

Their value is having them available 24/7 and the department plans to have officers who have been trained as drone pilots on every shift.

The drones can fly as fast as 53 mph, as the crow flies, to scenes of crimes or emergencies. They can stay airborne for more than 42 minutes.

Certainly, the use of the technology for police work conjures Orwellian images, but the department does not plan to use them for surveillance, rather to respond to incidents such as reported crimes, searches and disasters.

One will be stationed downtown and the other in the Terra Linda area.

Given the cost – a three-year lease covering the equipment, maintenance and potential upgrades – the City Council and the public should be able to see when the drones were deployed and reports of their effectiveness in aiding officers.

As they are classified by the state as “military equipment,” the police department has to compile annual reports detailing their use. As the program begins, quarterly public reports make sense.

It is important to note that the drone program was presented to the city’s Police Advisory and Accountability Committee, which endorsed the department’s plans.

Leveraging technology for faster responses makes sense.

The contract is pricey, especially given the city’s worries about revenues keeping pace with its expenses.

Drones have proven to be effective tools for responding to emergencies where public safety is a concern. They have been proven to be helpful in providing a quick and real-time assessment of the emergency, helping officers be better prepared for what they are going to find when they arrive on the scene.

Having used them or sought use of the county’s drones more than a dozen times in 2024, it’s clear that the department sees a use and need for the advantages they can provide.

The City Council needs to make sure those possible advantages are worth the cost to taxpayers.