The Portland City Council nixed a proposal by the Portland Police Department to purchase its first drone, dealing a setback to the department’s efforts to expand its aerial capabilities for operations.
On Monday night, council members rejected the acquisition of a roughly $45,000 drone from Axon, a company whose products integrate with existing law-enforcement systems. The department argued that the device could be used for missing-person searches, suspect standoffs and crime scene reconstruction.
Police Chief Mark Dubois noted that the drone would integrate seamlessly with current Axon body-camera and cruiser-camera systems already in use by the department.
But during the public comment period, many residents voiced concerns over privacy, surveillance capacity and how the technology could be used. One resident urged caution, saying the drone “has the ability to surveil our skies and … collect a lot of invasive personal information about residents that can make us a lot less safe.”
While the police department stressed that the proposed drone would not include facial-recognition software, critics contended that the underlying technology carried risks of misuse without clear policies in place.
Councilor Regina Phillips said “I have a different take on you know the police department and what they do and that trust for me and I’m just not comfortable. I’m just not comfortable voting for this.”
Councilor Wesley Pelletier added “I trust where the department is right now, but I don’t want to sign that check for you know the next couple of decades without making sure we have protections in place for citizens.”
Currently, Portland lacks its own drone and must borrow one from another municipality when the need arises.
Although the measure failed this time, city officials noted the topic is likely to return for future consideration.
