This plan proved contentious on Wednesday. This new proposal will circumvent that, instead allowing Phoenix police to go ahead with the drone purchase “as soon as possible,” according to a memo, without presenting a policy first to the council.

The committee agreed to allow Phoenix Fire to go ahead with its drone purchases - so it could roll the tech out by the summer - but asked Phoenix police to come back for approval separately, with a more fleshed-out plan. Garcia worried, he said, that without proper oversight, the drones could pose privacy concerns. Fire officials also suggested that the committee approve drones for the police department.Īt the meeting, Councilmember Carlos Garcia had voiced concerns that the police department had offered little information about its plans for the technology by shoehorning the proposal into the fire department’s presentation. Originally, though, council members on the city’s public safety committee had been wary of signing off on drones for Phoenix police.Īt a committee meeting last month, the Phoenix Fire Department requested to kick off its drone program this year, citing the technology’s use in mountain rescues and major fires. Ultimately, a memo requesting the city move the drone program forward was signed by Councilmembers Jim Waring, Deb Stark, and O’Brien, as well as Mayor Kate Gallego. They borrowed it from the city of Glendale.Īndrew Williams, a Phoenix police spokesperson, said that officers used it to “help look inside the house and see where Morris Jones was, without putting any officers in unnecessary danger.” Phoenix police did, in fact, deploy a drone during the mid-February shootings. “It is unacceptable that the fifth-largest city in the United States does not have the technology or capabilities to adequately protect our officers.” “The time for action is now,” Councilmember Ann O’Brien wrote in a statement issued the same day of the incident. The suspect, Morris Jones, shot and killed his former girlfriend, fired at Phoenix police officers, and then killed himself, according to police accounts and an autopsy by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner.Īll officers have been released from the hospital, though some are still off-duty, recovering from their injuries. Some council members put pressure on the city to quickly approve the use of police drones this week, following a shooting in South Phoenix on February 11.ĭuring the incident, five Phoenix police officers were shot, and nine injured, after responding to a domestic violence call. The request was submitted to the city council at the last minute, fast-tracking the agency’s plans to implement the technology. Late Wednesday night the Phoenix City Council voted 6-3 after a lengthy, and at times heated, discussion.

After several hours of debate and spirited public response during the Phoenix City Council meeting this week, local officials agreed to authorize the police department to purchase public safety drones right away.

Phoenix police drones