UPDATE: The Grand Rapids City Commission has given final approval to the police drone purchase.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids police are planning to be using drones by mid-September.
The nearly $100,000 purchase of eight drones for police use was unanimously approved Tuesday morning, Aug. 22, during the City Commission’s fiscal committee meeting.
Final approval authorizing the purchase is expected to come at the commission’s 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday via a sweeping consent agenda vote.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom has said officers will use the drones in a reactive capacity, using them to assist in search and rescue operations, fleeing suspects searches, crime scene documentation, standoff situations and more.
The variety of uses, police officials previously said, would result in departmental efficiency and increased officer and public safety.
In addition to the $99,246.16 purchase of the drones and related equipment approved Tuesday, there will be about $10,000 to $15,000 in annual, additional costs associated with the drone program.
Police departments in Kentwood, Walker and Wyoming, as well as the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, are already using drones. On Tuesday morning, drones from the sheriff’s office were being used in the city to assist officers with a barricaded person situation on the Northeast Side.
Some residents have pushed back on the GRPD implementing a drone program, voicing concerns about privacy, over-policing and a distrust that the department will use them properly.
Related: More than 2 dozen voice opposition to Grand Rapids police drones
During a presentation to commissioners Tuesday, Winstrom addressed some of the concerns about drone use he has heard from the public.
He said the drones will not be weaponized, won’t utilize artificial intelligence for deployment and won’t use facial recognition technology. The department’s drone policy also outlines protections for First Amendment activities like protests, he said.
“The use of (drones) is prohibited for the sole purpose of monitoring activities protected by the U.S. Constitution,” the policy states.
City Manager Mark Washington has previously said the drones could be used to monitor protests that aren’t permitted and are potentially interfering with roadways.
Concern about the drones using facial recognition were something two commissioners said they heard from constituents.
“Not only do we not intend to use it, we are prohibited from using it by our policy,” Winstrom said.
Officials have touted what they say will be a high level of oversight of the drone program through the city’s Office of Oversight and Public Accountability (OPA).
“From your perspective, is there any other department with this level of oversight for utilization of technology that you’re aware of?” Mayor Rosalynn Bliss asked OPA Director Brandon Davis during the Tuesday drone program presentation.
“I’m not aware of any other police department that has this level of oversight, as it relates to surveillance use,” Davis responded.
All complaints of misuse or overuse of drones submitted to GRPD’s Internal Affairs Unit will be provided to OPA.
GRPD will also submit a quarterly report to OPA detailing when drones were used, why they were used, a general location of where they were used, how long they were used and whether the use resulted from a warrant.
The GRPD began serious public discussions about the possible purchase of drones earlier this year. Since then, the department has met with neighborhood associations as well as held a public hearing and a public forum on the proposal.
The department’s previous chief, Eric Payne, previously floated the idea of the department acquiring and using drones. Winstrom replaced Payne in March 2022.
According to a Tuesday memo to commissioners, the police department will use the drones for:
- Accident scene reconstruction
- Crime scene documentation
- Search and rescue operations
- Fleeing suspect searches
- Hazardous materials incidents
- Tactical operations and critical incidents
- Disaster incidents
- Operational support for special events, where an aerial view is necessary to ensure safety and make officer deployment more efficient
The draft policy also states drones may be used during incidents of civil unrest. Civil unrest is defined as a public disturbance involving acts of violence by three or more people which poses an immediate threat of, or results in, damage or injury to property or persons.
Under the department’s draft drone policy, GRPD would be forbidden from using drones in the circumstances:
- For weapon deployment
- For personal use
- To harass, intimidate or discriminate against any person or group
- To purposefully record or transmit images of a location where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a residence or yard, without a warrant or exigent circumstances
- For the sole purpose of monitoring activities protected by the U.S Constitution
- To conduct random surveillance activities
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