Sabha. Tamer
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Sonja Berndt Wednesday, September 16, 2026 3:32 PM PublicComment-AutoResponse; Rivas, Jessica; Hampton, Tyron; Jones, Justin; Madison, Steve
Correspondence for Public Safety Committee Mtg. 9/16/2026 Agenda #2 [ A] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
Dear Committee Members:
I oppose any further expense on drones and any expansion of the use of drones in our city. PPD is not being transparent with the public about the full costs of such a program, which can run in the millions'! That money needs to be spent on our most vulnerable residents including of unsheltered folks languishing on the streets while PPD searches for innovative ways to spend inordinate amounts of money our city does not have. PPD will have more toys to surveil us from the sky and probably use against our unhoused and most vulnerable.
The department currently has drones for use by SWAT for indoor use only, and they want to expand to a full Drone As First Responder (DFR) program, which means flying drones across the city for anything related to "public safety". To be clear, this is an extreme expansion of the use of drones and surveillance in Pasadena. This is being done without transparency or community consent. No one from the community has advocated in favor of this massive surveillance overreach! Drone vendors are problematic, and are taking our money and resources that should be used for our most needy residents. Further, there aren't appropriate guardrails of our privacy, or guarantees against abuse.
No more funding for drones and no expansion of their use in our City.Sonja K. Berndt Pasadena
1 Sabha, Tamer
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ERICA SILVERMAN <[email protected]> Wednesday, September 16, 2026 3:40 PM Sabha, Tamer No to Drones. No to Robots. No More Surveillance! t I. ] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you fcnowthe content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
M T Sabha,
The latest AB 481 Military Equipment report states that the Pasadena Police Department intends to purchase more drones and significantly expand their use outside of SWAT. I oppose the expansion or purchase of surveillance equipment like drones and robots. There was no discussion by PPD, the Community Police Oversignt Commission or the City Council about independent studies on the effectiveness of drones for public safety. Pasadena has a responsibility to clearly discuss with the public what this program will look like, the acceptable uses, the vendors under consideration, and the drone capabilities. Most importantly, the City should first determine if this is even what the community wants! It is unacceptable for community members to have to fight for our privacy when the monies have already been allocated and the RFPs have been issued. City leadership needs to first find out if the community even wants these instead of just nodding yes to everything that PPD asks for. I oppose the purchase of a robot for PPD for the same reasons. Once again, the public has no idea from the AB481 Report, CPOC materials, or any other public information what is being considered. PPD is always talking about transparency and accountability but all we get is more secrecy. No more surveillance! No Drone as First Responder or expansion of surveillance in Pasadena!ERICA SILVERMAN
Los Angeles, California 90031
1 Sabha, Tamer
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Yadi
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 3:50 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse; PublicComment-AutoResponse; Diaz, EligioPublic Comment - Pasadena Public Safety Committee Meeting - 09/16/26 Comment - Pasadena Public Safety Committee - 09-16-26 Drone First Responder Costs.pdf
[A] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolTportal.
Hi,
Please find attached my public comment for the September 16, 2026 Pasadena Public Safety Committee Meeting, agenda item 2. Military Equipment - Drone As First Responder Program Purchase.
Thanks,
Yadi
1 2. AB 481 - Drone First Responder
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Estimated cost: $250K-400K
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• Replace SWAT UAS and Public Safety UAS purchase. Evaluate and integrate UAS for use in a variety of Public Safety application to include. Patrol, Traffic, Fire response and firework suppression. Estimated cost: $250K-400K > Policy was presented and reviewed by CPOC on July 9 and recommended for advancement to City Council. The policy will be presented to City Council in September for approval. > Procurement of new UAS technology other than SWAT replacements will be presented to City Council for approval and submitted to CROC for review.
The math aint mathing.
This proposed Drone as First Responder program does not comply with AB 481 which requires full disclosure of all costs.
No honest, transparent conversation...so no drones.
• Piano, TX $1.4 Million DFR contract
• Louisville, KY: $1 Million for its first year
• Orlando, FL $6.83 Million contract
• Los Angeles, CA ($3.9 Million total budget) three-year contract• Newport Beach, CA $2.17 Million contract DFR program balloon into a massive city budget expenditures, because of the high costs of drones, hardware subscriptions & upgrades, Software Integration like linking drone feeds natively into existing Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems, airspace compliance &tech. This doesnt touch the staffing or training.
The rush to lock in multi-million-dollar technology contracts has outpaced verified proof of their social or financial utility.A Texas law enforcment said in an Ars Technics article that there's no economically viable domestic made drone manufacturer.
This is not the economic climate for extravagances like drones or horses when our neighbors need food and housing.
Yadi
Pasadena Public Safety Committee Meeting
September 16, 2026
2. AB 481 - Drone First Responder