St. Paul City Council pulls grant request for police drone expansion
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The St. Paul City Council withdrew a resolution for the police department seeking a $200,000 federal grant to expand its drone program on Wednesday.
The council delayed the decision last week and said it would not support expanding the drone program until police address members’ questions and concerns.
The decision comes after the council unanimously approved a resolution calling on the city administration and Ramsey County to end their contracts with Flock. The city said it would remove its two Flock cameras following the vote.
Residents came to the meeting prepared to voice their concerns before the resolution was withdrawn. One of those residents was Women Against Military Madness member Sara Olson, who held a banner that said, "Drones out of St. Paul, drones out of Palestine and St. Paul say no to Skydio."
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"It's just the fact that this stuff is happening, and we weren't asked if we wanted it, even if people want to waffle on the stand about genocide, which apparently seems to be something that quite a few Americans still do," Olson said. "It's just happening so much these days that the money that we pay in taxes is spent in ways we're not asked about, and we have nothing to say about it."
The police department has used drones made by Skydio since 2023. The company’s drones are also used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Israeli military, ties that have drawn criticism from opponents of St. Paul’s drone program.
Groups including the Free Palestine Coalition, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee attended the meeting to oppose the resolution. St. Paul resident Wyatt Miller was among those who came to the meeting to oppose the city’s relationship with Skydio.
"I think it tells me that it's really great that we can stop a further expansion, but now we need to keep going and try to bring this program that the community wasn't really asking for," he said. "We need to bring that into the public debate, so that we decide as a community if we actually want it or not."
Miller also criticized a video SPPD released the day before the meeting showing officers using a drone to help a child struggling in a pond. He called it a “disgrace” for police to “lobby” for the drone program on social media.
Miller said he was concerned police would continue pursuing the drone program despite opposition from residents and elected officials.
“That to me, that’s a real concern, and I think today it’s really important that we’ve seen the council start to push back against that,” he said.
St. Paul Resident Sula Soliel also showed up to the meeting to voice her opposition against the resolution. She said she understands the police believe this is a way they can help people but doesn't believe it’s the right way.
"I think that we have the resources and the money, especially in the police department, to utilize our resources and spend the funding to train them better, or to do this thing or do that thing that doesn't involve surveillance drones," Soliel said. "I think that we can really use our resources that are already available to put that same thing forward and like do the things that are necessary."
Soliel said she was surprised the decision was made so fast but was glad about the outcome.
"I just think it's important that we show up and we show our support for Palestine and we should prove that we care, and that we don't want drones," she said. "We don't want drones that partner with Israel."
