Portland City Council Committee Split on Police Drone, Citing ‘Big Brother’ Privacy Concerns

On Tuesday the Portland City Council’s Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee voted to advance a proposal from the Portland Police Department to purchase an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), or drone.

Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois first presented the department’s proposal to the City Council committee in July, saying that the department is “significantly understaffed” and that they need to “utilize technology to the fullest extent” in order maintain public safety.

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Chief Dubois told the committee that Portland Police had previously used drones successfully in several search and rescue operations, and that the drone would assist in plotting the scenes of traffic accidents more quickly.

Additionally, Dubois said that the drone could be used to more safely execute high-risk search warrants in cases where there is a barricaded suspect.

The Portland Police Department have published a draft standard operating procedure which would establish guidelines on how and when police could use the drone, based on the applicable Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state regulations.

The proposed Portland Police UAS guidelines would require that the drone be operated by a department employee who is an FAA-certified drone pilot, and that a warrant be obtained before the drone could be used for a criminal investigation.

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The drone pilot would also be prohibited from intentionally recording images of a location where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a inside a home or a fenced yard.

Other provisions in the department’s proposed guidelines are prohibitions on the use of weapons, thermal imaging, facial recognition, night vision and high powered zoom lenses on the drone.

While “random surveillance” on citizens is prohibited under the draft policy, one of the “permissible uses” would be the “real time monitoring of mass gatherings for situational awareness and to ensure the safety of participants.”

Portland resident Em Burnett was the only member of the public to offer comment on the proposal at the Tuesday meeting.

Burnett urged the City Council to consider the data privacy implications of the drone purchase, and to draft their own policy separate from the police department’s outlining how drone surveillance footage would be stored or used.

“I think that in terms of managing some really potentially sensitive, invasive surveillance technology like this, it’s a lot better for the community to have the council as a whole implement a policy, draft something, that is not just about purchasing a single drone, but is looking at all of the implications here,” Burnett said.

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“A lot of tech companies make their money on data, and this kind of data is specifically how they would make money,” Burnett remarked. “This is opening the door to constant surveillance.”

The vendor from whom Portland Police is looking to purchase the drone is Axon Enterprise, Inc., and is the company which currently provides the department with their body cameras.

The estimated cost of the drone itself is $16,500, with software licenses, servicing, training and other associated charges bringing the total up front cost to just over $40,000.

The funds to acquire the drone would be taken from the department’s asset forfeiture funds, and was already appropriated in January 2024.

Addressing Burnett’s concerns, Chief Dubois said that the data from the drone would be “very well regulated” and law enforcement sensitive, and said the drone footage would be “far less invasive” than the footage already captured by officer’s body worn cameras.

Dubois said that the drone would be primarily used for search and rescue operations, accident reconstruction and criminal investigations.

According to an April report from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy to the State Legislature, out of the 153 law enforcement agencies in the State of Maine, 22 agencies currently have a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone. Those agencies are required to report their use to the Maine Commissioner of Public Safety each year.

Despite Dubois’ assurances regarding data privacy, City Councilor Victoria Pelletier remained apprehensive towards the proposal.

“Technology — it can feel like a really heightened level of security, it just can, and it can be very scary,” Pelletier said. “And I think an opportunity for a heightened level of security by police can feel really scary for communities of color, for unhoused communities, for communities living in poverty.”

“It just has the potential to feel like this kind of ‘big brother,’ ‘eye in the sky’ thing for Portland,” Pelletier said.

Councilor Kate Sykes said that while she would not be entirely opposed to the department purchasing the drone, she would want the City Council to implement a controlling ordinance separate from the police department’s standard operating procedure.

Both Councilors April Fournier and Roberto Rodriguez said that they did not consider it necessary for the city to implement its own ordinance governing the usage of drones, arguing that the privacy concerns are addressed adequately by current state law and regulations.

Councilors Pelletier and Anna Trevorrow voted against advancing the proposal, while Councilors Fournier and Rodriguez voted in support of bringing it before the full City Council.

The proposal, moved forward with the split 2-2 vote, is expected to go before the full City in October.