by Garth Meyer
An advanced police drone system is under consideration in Redondo Beach. The city council directed the police department Tuesday to solicit more quotes for drones that switch out their own batteries by robotic arm, track other drones in the air to show police where they took off from, and replace the need for human visual line of sight with radar.
Police Chief Joe Hoffman proposed the program to the council, to start with a $104,000, four-month contract.
Hoffman said he believes proposed contractor Aerodome, Inc. is the only company in this area offering this level of services.
City councilmembers voted 5-0 to seek other quotes. City Manager Mike Witzansky noted that the item is likely to be discussed further in budget season this spring.
Previous Redondo police drone contractor Flying Lion had limitations, Hoffman explained. Among them, their drones required someone on the roof of the old South Bay Hospital/Beach Cities Health District campus to keep a visual line of sight to the drone, their battery time was shorter, and their drones are 60 percent slower than Aerodome.
The latter system still requires a remote pilot to fly the drone, such as a police dispatcher.
The devices do not patrol, but respond to calls, with the exception of a special event or critical incident. The Flying Lion contract expired at the end of February.
The new drones would also be used by the Redondo Beach Fire Department.
“This should be looked at as a public safety drone,” Hoffman said.
Tracking other drones’ take-off points allows police to send officers to the location to investigate.
“A terrorist attack can come in the form of a drone,” Hoffman said. “And we need to be ready for that.”
While a short-term, immediate contract was talked about Tuesday, the estimated cost for an annual program such as this would be “in the neighborhood of $250,000 per year,” Hoffman said.
He suggested that as the new program got established, it could lead to a reduction in personnel costs.
City Councilman Todd Loewenstein gave his support to the police drones and their use, but had another issue.
“My concern is no-bid contracts,” he said.
Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr., stated his support for an expenditure for the program, saying how valuable drones are because of how fast they can get to a location and start giving information to responders.
City budget discussions begin in April. ER
