Minneapolis politics, slightly ground down

A Minneapolis politics podcast hosted by four-term Ward 2 city council veterans Cam Gordon and Robin Garwood, with longtime activist Jesse Mortenson

Drone Pilot Crashes: the Drones as First Responders Debate

July 27, 2026

Angry resident testimony, surveillance, new technology and the ethics of hungry corporate vendors: the debate over a proposed first responder drone pilot program had a lot going on. This could still be a live issue going forward: Mayor Frey used it as a talking point just days after the vote failed. We explore this topic, including past examples of technology adoption and policy shifts by the Police Department.

Recorded 7/22/26.

Alert

Though the massive ICE activity dwindled in the Spring, we still face a determined wannabe-fascist regime. Mill City Hall asks you to plug in and take action:

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The Proposal

Background

  • MPD uses drones since 2022
    • 12 pilots w/ Part 107 licenses
    • 12 exterior / 10 interior drones
    • 584 total missions, no copmlaints
    • currently fly from squad trunks
  • MPD has already been approved by FAA to operate up to 200ft beyond visual line of sight

Basic proposal parameters from the slide deck

Proposed Pilot Project

  • 75 day trial period
  • In 4th precinct
    • launched from Fire Dept station 14
    • 33,402 calls for service annually in that area
    • Priority 0 and 1 calls

      Priority 0 - Calls classified as Priority 0 include those situations where a known crisis exists that threatens the life of an individual. This is the highest possible priority and the fastest possible response is desired. The MECC objective is to have squads en route to the call within 30 seconds of receipt by the dispatcher. Priority 1 - Calls classified as Priority 1 include situations where an imminent threat to personal safety, or the loss or damage to property exists. Conditions at the scene of the call are unstable. The MECC objective is to have a squad en route to a priority 1 event within 70 seconds of receipt by the dispatcher. https://mpdpolicyhub.minneapolismn.gov/Uploads/FileOutput/bfb985fa-f55b-ef11-9158-0050569f39a9/Manual%20Download-04-20-2026.pdf

  • Skydio: "Largest drone manufacturer in the US"
  • 5 agencies in MN [use them?] St Paul, Duluth, Rochester, Minnetonka, Brooklyn Park
  • 236 agencies nationwide
  • Criteria
    • reduces MPD respond times
    • clears some 911 calls without dispatch of officers
    • "Increases officer and community safety"
    • "Improves effectiveiness and efficiency of other city serviecs"
  • Staffing
    • 2-3 personnel, Tues-Fri, 8am-6pm
  • Data / privacy
    • "Once drone launches, camera angle is tilted180 degree until arrival to incident location."
    • "Upon arrival, camera angle is managed by remote pilot to document incident."
    • Then back to 180 degrees as it returns to base
    • "All flights are recorded and uploaded to evidence.com" [AXON product]
    • "Flights determined to have no evidentiary value categorized as “UAS” and automatically deleted within 7 days per state law"
    • "Flights determined to have evidentiary value are categorized as “Evidence”. Retention is based on state law"
  • Pitched for usage by MPD / MFD / City Inspections etc
    • MPD: broad range of emergency / non emergency scenarios
    • MFD: fire recon, hazmat recon, water rescue, thermal image hotspots
    • Reg Services: illegal auto repair, vacant buildings, nuisance abatement, occupancy verification, "flat roofs"
    • Inspections: grain silos, old vacant commercial properties
    • Traffic control: Large events, aerial map to analyze traffic flow, snow emergency enforcement, illegal dumping
  • Community engagement pitch
    • Public data dashboard
    • Precinct open houses
    • COmmunity MSTAT demos
    • Peace Internship Academy
    • Skydio for ALL
      • provided free by Skydio
      • "allows community to understand and fly the drones"
  • Success evidence
    • Minnetonka Police
      • 400 flights
      • 65% drone was first on scene
      • 20% calls cleared without sending patrol
      • 90% "provided helpful intel to ground units"
    • San Francisco
      • 30% "drop in overall crime" ???? HUH ???
      • 44% "reduction in auto theft"
      • "500+ arrests"
    • Denver
      • 622 flights
      • 36% calls cleared wtihout sending patrol
      • 84% drone was first on scene

State Law on Sse of Drones

State Statute - MN 626.19 Sub. 3

  • Requires a search warrant EXCEPT for allowed uses:
    • (1) during or in the aftermath of an emergency situation that involves the risk of death or bodily harm to a person;
    • (2) to document evidence that is at imminent risk of destruction;
    • (3) over a public event where there is a heightened risk to the safety of participants or bystanders;
    • (4) to counter the risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization if the agency determines that credible intelligence indicates a risk;
    • (5) to prevent the loss of life and property in natural or man-made disasters and to facilitate operational planning, rescue, and recovery operations in the aftermath of these disasters;
    • (6) to conduct a threat assessment in anticipation of a specific event;
    • (7) to collect information from a public area if there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity;
    • (8) to collect information for crash reconstruction purposes after a serious or deadly collision occurring on a public road;
    • (9) over a private area with the written consent of the occupant or a public area, for officer training or public relations purposes;
    • (10) for purposes unrelated to law enforcement at the request of a government entity provided that the government entity makes the request in writing to the law enforcement agency and specifies the reason for the request and proposed period of use; and
    • (11) to facilitate the active search for a missing person.
  • Further limitations
    • A law enforcement agency must not deploy a UAV with facial recognition or other biometric-matching technology unless expressly authorized by a warrant.
    • law enforcement agency must not use a UAV to collect data on public protests or demonstrations unless expressly authorized by a warrant or an exception applies under subdivision 3.
    • A law enforcement agency must document each use of a UAV, connect each deployment to a unique case number, provide a factual basis for the use of a UAV, and identify the applicable exception under subdivision 3 unless a warrant was obtained.
    • Data collected by a UAV are private data on individuals or nonpublic data, subject to the following:
    • Notwithstanding section 138.17, a law enforcement agency must delete data collected by a UAV as soon as possible, and in no event later than seven days after collection unless the data is part of an active criminal investigation.

Local Media coverage

  • 7/9: MN Spokesman Recorder
  • 7/11: Strib:
    • Forty-one speakers asked the council to reject the pilot program. No one testified in its favor.
    • Heller and her North Side neighbors delivered a petition to City Hall with more than 500 citywide signatures denouncing the proposal.
    • Council Member Soren Stevenson, who represents the south side and in May appeared conflicted about the value of such technology, made up his mind by the end of Wednesday’s marathon hearing. “I do not support this at all,” he said.
  • 7/15: MN Reformer
    • A few dozen demonstrators gathered at the Federal Court Plaza Wednesday to protest a proposed contract between Minneapolis and Skydio, a California-based drone company that has sold its products to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  • 7/16 MPR: City COuncil rejects police drone contract with Skydio
    • Council member Jamal Osman previously supported the pilot. However, he changed his mind after he learned Spydio drones have been used by ICE — which used drones to monitor Minnesotans this winter — and the Israeli military. “I support exploring technology that can help, including drones, in our first response, but only with a vendor that has no contract with militaries that are killing other people,” Osman said.
    • “I don't think Minneapolis should have our own residents as collateral damage because of geopolitics,” Frey said before being interrupted by laughs and disagreement from some members of the public. “Refusing this pilot, I don't believe sends a message to Israel. It does make it more difficult for us to provide the necessary safety to our residents in this city at this point in time.”
  • 7/16 Strib: Deadlocked Minneapolis City Council fails to pass police drone pilot program
    • Vetaw questioned that rationale, saying: “At times it feels like members of this body are searching for reasons to say no instead of looking for reasons to give this pilot a chance. To make the outcome of this decision hinge on whether a country halfway around the world purchases equipment from the same company does not make sense to me.”
    • Dozens of concerned citizens showed up at City Hall to oppose the pilot program earlier this month, with 41 people urging the council to reject the pilot program, while nobody testified in favor
  • 7/16 MN Reformer
    • Before the motion failed 6-6, City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury called the proposal an “an abysmal mistake, and nothing is free. This costs the trust of our residents.”
    • City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, who spearheaded the proposal, said the council has set a bad precedent: “If our standard is that we cannot work with any company that has contracts with a federal agency who has policies we oppose, we will quickly find that standard impossible to apply consistently.”
    • But a Skydio data leak recently revealed that in response to a “prowler” call in San Francisco, a drone zoomed in on a young person sporting headphones on a rooftop before flying away, Wired reported. In another instance, in response to a “person with a gun” call, a drone fixated on an intoxicated person on a sidewalk.
  • 7/20 Strib: ICE partner law enf agencies OUTSIDE twin cities got into license plate reader data from twin cities suburbs

National Media Coverage on Drones & Police

ShotSpotter is Bad, Actually

References re: Chicago, which recently discontinued their use of the product.

  • MacArthur Justice Center: “The City made the right decision when it cancelled its ShotSpotter contract last fall,” said Jonathan Manes, senior counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, a non-profit civil rights organization in Chicago. “ShotSpotter generated tens of thousands of unfounded alerts every year, driving aggressive and unwarranted police deployments and prompting many illegal police stops and pat-downs. Today’s settlement confirms that ShotSpotter was never worth the cost.”
  • Associated Press: The system, which relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and network of microphones to identify gunshots, has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse.
  • U Chicago research project illustrating changes since ShotSpotter was discontinued (correlation: response times improved)
  • Chicago Justice Project: "In a first-of-its-kind independent analysis of the effectiveness of ShotSpotter, the science says the technology does not lead to more arrests and convictions for gun crimes and does not reduce these crimes in the areas where it is deployed. The study examined the impact of ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City."

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