Minneapolis city council votes down controversial drone pilot scheme – sUAS News

In a sharp rebuke to the expansion of aerial police surveillance, the Minneapolis City Council has rejected a pilot programme that would have seen drones deployed as first responders across the city. The proposal, which failed on a deadlocked 6-6 vote, faced overwhelming opposition from residents who packed into an overflow room at City Hall and submitted 165 pages of written testimony denouncing the scheme.

The ‘Drones as First Responders’ initiative would have allowed the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to partner with the California-based technology firm Skydio for a free 75-day trial. Under the plans, drones housed at a North Minneapolis fire station would have been dispatched to 911 calls, livestreaming video to help police assess the necessity of a physical response or to locate missing persons. Proponents of the scheme, spearheaded by Council member LaTrisha Vetaw, argued the technology would assist an understaffed police force and potentially save lives by improving response times. Mayor Jacob Frey also threw his weight behind the pilot, arguing that the city’s residents should not become “collateral damage because of geopolitics”.

However, the geopolitical connections of the drone manufacturer proved to be a fatal stumbling block for the proposal. Public comments revealed deep-seated outrage over Skydio’s role as a supplier to the Israeli military during the ongoing war in Gaza, as well as its contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Council member Jamal Osman, who had previously supported the pilot, ultimately voted against it, stating that while he supports exploring new technology, the city must only contract with vendors that are not involved with “militaries that are killing other people”. Dozens of constituents echoed this sentiment, arguing that local tax dollars—even after a free trial period—should not enrich a company complicit in what residents described as genocide and the terrorising of immigrant communities.

Beyond international and federal concerns, the proposal struck a painful local nerve regarding privacy and the MPD’s troubled history with the communities it polices. Minneapolis residents expressed profound distrust in a police department currently operating under a consent decree following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and subsequent findings of race-based policing by the Department of Justice. Commenters feared the drones would lead to mission creep, transforming an emergency response tool into a persistent, warrantless surveillance network predominantly targeting Black and minority ethnic neighbourhoods. The trauma of ‘Operation Metro Surge’ was frequently cited, a period when residents endured the constant buzzing of low-flying federal drones monitoring neighbourhoods at night, which left many feeling like they were living under military occupation.

While the vast majority of the public feedback was fiercely critical, a minority of residents did write in support of the drones, citing rising crime rates, illegal auto chop shops, and the persistent dumping of rubbish in residential areas. These residents expressed frustration that police often arrive too late to catch perpetrators and suggested that drones could provide vital, rapid documentation of these offences.

Following the vote, Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette expressed disappointment, stating that the rejection deprived the city of the opportunity to base its policies on local, real-world evidence rather than assumptions. Yet for the residents who successfully campaigned against the measure, the decision marks a vital victory for civil liberties. As one community group noted in its petition, Minneapolis neighbourhoods cannot be treated as testing grounds for militarised technology, demanding instead that the city invest in housing, education, and human-centred community safety

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