The St. Paul City Council decided not to expand the Police Department’s drone program after the item had been originally up for a vote.

Instead of voting on Wednesday, City Council President Rebecca Noecker said the proposal had been withdrawn because the council “does not support an expansion of our drone program until a number of questions and concerns are addressed.”

St. Paul police began using drones in 2023 to assist with responding to emergencies. Then in May, the city began its “docked drone program,” which allows police to send drones more quickly from “docks” on the tops of buildings to respond and potentially get there minutes before officers arrive.

The department was seeking approval for its application for a $200,000 Department of Justice grant that would have allowed the city to add docks around the city.

Critics had been vocal with concerns in public meetings, including fears of excessive or unwanted surveillance, and of expanding the partnership with the drone company Skydio.

Skydio supplies drones to the U.S. Department of Defense and 29 allied nations, including Israel, and opponents of the drones have argued that support amounts to being complicit with Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Noecker said after the meeting that she thinks city residents have raised “legitimate questions and concerns” about drone technology.

Asked for comment, St. Paul police spokeswoman Nikki Muehlhausen said the withdrawal “does not change anything regarding the St. Paul Police Department’s current drone program.”

According to a department website, drones are only used for service calls and not general surveillance. Police say they don’t have facial recognition and that all flights are documented and can be audited.

One day ahead of the planned vote, St. Paul police posted on social media about a rescue in which a drone was used to locate a child with autism who wandered from home and was struggling to swim in the middle of a pond. After the 911 call on the Greater East Side, an officer flew a drone which arrived two minutes before officers on the scene, the department said. Getting the drone there early helped give the officers the correct location, police said.

More than a dozen people held up signs during the council meeting Wednesday showing their opposition to police drone use and snapped their fingers in approval after Noecker withdrew the item.

“I’m glad that the City Council seems to agree with us that this isn’t going to be safe for our community,” said Cedar Larson, a member of the group Women Against Military Madness who attended the meeting.

Noecker added she understands both the usefulness of technology, such as body-worn cameras, but she also emphasized the need for the public’s trust.

“We didn’t feel at this point that we have all of those questions answered,” she said.

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