(The Center Square) – The Spokane Police Department received the go-ahead Monday to buy four new drones and vehicle barriers for when Team Egypt uses the city as a base camp for the FIFA World Cup.
Assistant Police Chief Matt Cowles ran the city council through the proposal on Monday morning before the officials authorized the purchases that night with little notice. While everyone voted in favor of the barriers, Councilmember Sarah Dixit opposed the drones due to the expedited vote and privacy issues.
The Spokane Police Department framed the purchases as safety measures for when the city serves as Team Egypt’s base camp in the coming months. After the World Cup, SPD will retain the grant-funded equipment to Americanize its Chinese-made drone fleet and provide vehicle barriers for future events.
“DJI and Autel [drones] are no longer allowed to be imported into the country or purchased,” Cowles told the Spokane City Council during Monday’s committee meeting, citing new federal regulations. “So, we need to transition our inventory over to American-made or NATO-verified drone manufacturers.”
$200K for equipment
With Monday’s approval, SPD plans to purchase four Skydio X10 drone platforms from Axon for about $127,000 and then a Meridan mitigation barrier, trailer kit and other components for about $100,000.
The department will tap existing capital funds to purchase the equipment and backfill the budget with about $1.15 million in state and federal grants. The purchases authorized on Monday will only eat up a portion of that total funding, leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars available for other equipment.
The Center Square left a voicemail asking SPD how it plans to spend the remaining money, but didn’t receive a response before publishing. City Administrator Alex Scott told the council that vendors need a few weeks to produce the equipment and that the city must deploy them by July 1 to be reimbursed.
“If we can’t do that, then we can’t get reimbursed,” Scott explained later that afternoon. “It’s really of the essence for both fire and [police] to get those orders placed so we can get those things in market.”
Bird’s eye views
The drones will assist SPD’s Air Support Unit in de-escalation situations and provide a “bird’s eye view” of the city with thermal imaging. Cowles said drones are cheaper than deploying a helicopter, and they keep officers out of harm’s way. Drones also mitigate risks to public safety during vehicular pursuits.
SPD policy prohibits the use of drones to surveil people based on individual characteristics or to watch over protests and other constitutionally protected forms of speech unless used to mitigate safety risks.
“There is no facial recognition or license plate logging in any of our systems, and we are not seeking any of that technology either,” Cowles confirmed, considering the drones do provide such capabilities.
The vehicle barriers and associated equipment will be used “to harden the Gonzaga University practice site from potential vehicle-borne attacks,” according to Monday’s agenda. SPD plans to continue using them after the World Cup for the annual Bloomsday Run, street festivals and other events in Spokane.
Spokane County is also receiving grant funding for the World Cup and will send deputies to Seattle this summer for matches scheduled there. Spokane will serve as Team Egypt’s base camp before it goes to Seattle to play Belgium and Iran, despite the U.S. military operations in the Middle East against Iran.
The teams will face off during Seattle’s Pride Match, despite both nations criminalizing homosexuality.
“The upcoming FIFA World Cup will bring large crowds, international attention, and heightened security demands,” according to the agenda. “Spokane has been identified as a host city for Team Egypt, which will require continual drone overwatch of training sites, potential lodging, and transportation routes.”
