Redwood City council renews police drone and body camera contract

In one instance, a call came in detailing an individual harmed and robbed by four or five individuals. Within 30 seconds, a drone was deployed to the scene, even before the call was relayed to police, Redwood City police Sgt. Jeff Boyce said. 

The drone was able to keep an eye on the suspects, who left the scene within 30 seconds, and witnessed them throw the stolen property over a fence, which would have gone unseen by an officer on foot or in the car, Boyce said. 

“It’s just an amazing story that just would have never been resolved had it not been for the drones,” Boyce said. 

Police Chief Kristina Bell also shared how the drones have improved the department’s ability to find missing individuals or keep track of individuals in crisis, without having to deploy a fleet of police cars and while lowering escalation. 

Of the 608 drone deployments between June and December 2025, 83 were for citizen assists or welfare checks. Eight were to search for missing persons. 

Drones have also been used to identify illegal use of fireworks, particularly during the Fourth of July, which Councilmember Diane Howard applauded ahead of the summer months. 

“The value is just incredible,” Howard said. “We just don’t have enough police officers to be put on every corner of Redwood City, and I’m so glad we’re getting more.” 

The renewed agreement with Axon Enterprise is for five years of support with continued body-worn camera operations and the acquisition of 11 more drones. The most recent agreement expired Dec. 31, 2025, and the renewed agreement retroactively approves the partnership that has continued with the city in the past four months. 

Drones were first approved by the City Council in April 2024. 

For body-worn camera services and the limited drone program, the city currently spends approximately $231,000 annually. The renewed agreement increases the annual cost to $712,000, according to a staff report. 

The proposed five-year amended agreement with Axon totals $3.56 million, and staff is budgeting approximately $3.7 million to consider taxes or changes in equipment or implementation costs. 

Funding has been identified to cover the costs for the first 2 1/2 years of the agreement. The remaining balance remains unfunded, totaling approximately $1.6 million for the remaining time in the five-year contract. 

Councilmember Chris Sturken raised concerns that the falloff in secured funding closely coincides with the city’s looming deficit and budgetary concerns. 

“I’m a little concerned about making such a commitment right now, not knowing how we’re going to pay for it all,” Sturken said. “I think it’s important that we are being mindful of our budget and living within our means.” 

Councilmember Jeff Gee added that budget plans need to proactively include costs of maintenance ahead of time so the council isn’t surprised by future budgets. 

“As we adopt more technology, one of the things that go with it is increased costs, software updates, its useful life,” Gee said. “As I’ve talked at this dais about looking at lifespan equipment and software and to plan for it, we’re going to have to do that here.” 

The costs are worthwhile, councilmembers expressed. All shared their appreciation for the positive results from the technology.

“My natural disposition when I hear military equipment is reflexively not wanting that, however, I don’t think drones or body-worn cameras are military equipment, those are police equipment,” Councilmember Isabella Chu said. “Those are just good, modern tools.” 

While “anything that’s a tool can become a weapon,” Chu shared her trust in the police department after seeing how these tools have reduced car chases and saved lives. She said it will be important that guardrails are put in place to ensure the tools remain useful and have a positive impact. 

“Right now, we have an amazing police department with good leadership,” Chu said. “The trick is to structure laws and people so that it’s not dependent on good people … that there’s protections built in place.” 

The renewal agreement was approved unanimously by councilmembers. 

“This is going to make our police department’s job and the fire department’s job, our first responders, it’s going to make their work more efficient, safer and will help us learn from it so we can keep getting better with our responses,” Mayor Elmer Martinez Saballos said.