Lakeville Police Will Have Eyes in the Sky Following City Council Approval for Drone Plan

The unanimous city council decision allocates $16,000 for the new program

Aug. 4, 2023

LAKEVILLE, Minn. — The city council unanimously approved a plan for the police department to begin using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, at its June 5 meeting. Police Chief Brad Paulson outlined the proposed uses of drones at the meeting. Some examples given were for search-and-rescue operations, crowd monitoring, crime scene documentation, active incident surveillance, and tracking/apprehension of criminal suspects.

“They’re efficient as far as being able to get them up in the air quickly and utilize them with staff we already have working that are trained pilots,” Paulson said.

City Council Member Michelle Volk asked during the meeting if the data gathered via drones would be available under information requests similar to body-worn cameras. Paulson said drone data would be treated like any other police information and handled under the same request and release procedures.

At the meeting, Paulson cited state law regulating police drone use and said the information collected via drones will typically only be retained for seven days unless needed for a specific criminal case.

“The intent of the statute is to avoid us capturing a bunch of public data from something like Pan-O-Prog and holding onto that and reviewing it months later when there’s no need in having that,” Paulson said. “We’re not out there trying to capture people’s data and then sifting through it to see what we can uncover.”

Paulson said the department intended to train six officers to use drones if the plan was approved. The training would include a class given by the Federal Aviation Administration.

City Council Member John Bermel asked during the meeting how the department intended to fund the purchase of the equipment and training for the officers. Paulson said the department has allocated $16,000 from its existing 2023 budget to launch its drone program.

Restrictions On Drone Use By Police

The use of drones by police departments is regulated by Minnesota state law, which says police must have a search warrant to use drones but then gives nine exceptions to that restriction.

Examples of authorized warrantless drone use by police include over a public event where there is a heightened risk to the safety of participants. Paulson cited the city’s annual Pan-O-Prog event as an example where drones could be used to monitor crowds. Other examples of legal drone use without a warrant include gathering information about specific events. However, the law also provides vague exceptions such as for officer training or public relations purposes.

State law has three expressly written limitations on drone use by police. The law currently prohibits drone use in conjunction with facial recognition software unless authorized by a warrant. Police drones are prohibited from being equipping with weapons. Lastly, using them to collect data on public protests or demonstrations is prohibited unless specifically authorized by a warrant.

The last exception, that police drones may not be used to surveil Constitutionally protected peaceful protests, does have one caveat. Any of the sometimes vaguely written warrantless use exceptions could be used as a side door to drone use near protests and demonstrations.

For instance, if local police believe there is a “heightened risk onto the safety of participants or bystanders,” no warrant would be needed to fly a drone over a peaceful protest. The law does not provide for how that conclusion could be reached or by whom.

Another requirement of the state law is for local police departments and their governing body to arrange an opportunity for the public to comment before the police initially purchase or use drones. The window for public comment at the June 5 meeting was open for 16 seconds due to an apparent lack of anyone present at the meeting who wanted to speak.

In an interview, City Council Member Joshua Lee said he could not recall any specific measure that was made to alert the public to the proposed plan other than a notice in a local newspaper. Lee said Lakeville’s policy specifically prohibits drones equipped with biometric capabilities such as facial recognition software and the police would have to re-approach the city council to get permission to use such technology.

A benefit Lee cited was that drones may help police officers and citizens in delicate scenarios such as mental health crises. “Drones are a potential solution that allows us to be better informed about what’s going on inside a building or behind a building where officers aren’t able to have a clear line of sight before endangering themselves or elevating a situation so that an individual would harm themselves,” he said.

In an interview, Police Chief Paulson said drones can be a vital tool for officers. “The drones are a good intermediary between a field or ground search and helicopters where you run into situations whether we’re looking for a suspect of a crime or a vulnerable adult where we can pretty quickly get some devices up in the air to start searching,” Paulson said. “Time is always critical in those situations. The sooner you can get something looking, the smaller you can make your search area.”

Paulson also said that drones are more economical to use compared to traditional aircraft which is a tangible benefit to taxpayers. Paulson said the use of the drones is tracked and reported to the state annually. “I do understand anytime technology is used there is some concern from the public on making sure it’s used appropriately, and I share that concern,” he said.

Any member of the public can go to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension website and find the annual report which lists each Minnesota police agency that has drones. The report lists how often drones were used and for what purpose.

The report also specifically details how many times a police agency put a drone in the air for a reason other than in conjunction with a warrant. The Minnesota State Patrol was the leader in this category for 2022 with 535 warrantless drone flights. According to the 2022 report, 413 of those flights were for vehicle accident investigations and 121 flights were for officer training or public relations purposes.

“If the public has questions or concerns they can still ask questions,” Paulson said. He recommended calling the police department non-emergency line which is (952) 985-2800 or by going to the department’s website where residents can submit a comment.