St. Paul City Council: Planned police use of drones has raised concerns

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

Some St. Paul City Council members said Wednesday they’d like to see more community input before police finalize their policy on using drones.

Police held two community meetings in April, but 10 people attended one and none went to the other. They’ve received a number of online comments and are still welcoming people to submit them, said Cmdr. Ryan Murphy.

During a public hearing at the City Council on Wednesday, council members reflected on a letter they received from the Macalester-Groveland Community Council, which said the housing and land use committee “is concerned with the lack of public outreach on an important matter of public safety and finances, and does not believe that we can take an informed position on the SPPD implementation of a drone program without a more robust outreach program.”

Council Members Jane Prince and Mitra Jalali suggested police do outreach to the city’s district councils and beyond.

The letter from the Mac-Groveland council is a snapshot of what community members are feeling, said Council Member Nelsie Yang.

“The risks … about profiling, surveillance … are really real … in the society we live in,” Jalali said. “… This technology needs to be carefully monitored.”

Murphy said he understands the privacy concerns.

“We’re not here to spy on people,” he said. “This is used for a specific, dedicated search or location of a subject. … We cannot use this for random surveillance.” That’s addressed in state law and the department’s draft policy, Murphy said.

Before a law enforcement agency starts using drones, state law requires a public comment period be held during a meeting of the local government agency, but the city council doesn’t vote on the policy itself. Murphy said the police department wanted to get additional feedback by holding the two community meetings and having online comments. Police also met with community leaders to get their input.

The department was trying to start the drone program in June.

“Due to training and other unforeseen items, that date is likely being pushed out,” said Alyssa Arcand, a police spokeswoman.

How law enforcement uses drones

About 80 law enforcement agencies in the state use unmanned aircraft systems, more commonly called drones, Murphy said.

Minnesota law prohibits law enforcement agencies from using drones with facial recognition or with weapons; the law also says they can’t use a drone “to collect data on public protests or demonstrations unless expressly authorized by a warrant or an exception applies.”

Police are required to get a search warrant to use a drone, except in nine exceptions defined by state law, such as to “collect information from a public area if there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.”

Murphy said he sees the drones as having “lifesaving capability” in searches for missing children and vulnerable adults, especially in and around the city’s wooded areas, lakes and the Mississippi River.

It’s also a “de-escalation tool” if police are looking for a suspect with a weapon — it could mean not having to send an officer or K-9 into someone’s yard or a building during a search because the drones have thermal imaging and police could use a built-in speaker to make an announcement for the person to surrender, Murphy said.

“We continue to ask the police to spend less money, to do better, to use less K-9s, to limit any sort of lethal force … and I feel like this is an effort to do better,” City Council President Amy Brendmoen said of drones. She also said they can be less disruptive to neighborhoods than law enforcement use of Minnesota State Patrol helicopters.

The police department will provide weekly updates to the chief for the first 90 days to see in what instances the drones are being used and the frequency. Yang requested that council members also receive those updates.

Costs, community concerns

St. Paul police acquired five drones in April, but aren’t using them yet, according to the department. A large drone was $14,000, two medium drones were $4,500 each and two small ones were $400 each.

The police department is using money in its current budget for the drone program for this year, and will be requesting funding for future years. The software is about $26,000 per year, and equipment and/or upgrades would $5,000 to 10,000 a year, Murphy said.

Two community members spoke during Wednesday’s meeting.

John Purdy asked what happens if police find someone and rough them up.

“Where in this drone policy does it say for the pilot of the drone to keep the camera focused on the action and not pan away?” he said.

Rich Neumeister, who has spent over five decades working on privacy and data practices issues, said the state’s drone law “is like Swiss cheese” because the nine exceptions for search warrants are broad.

But he said the St. Paul City Council “can put more meat on the bones” of the policy, including by enacting new city ordinance.

To provide input

People can view the proposed policy and find a link to submit feedback online at stpaul.gov/uas.

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