On Tuesday, the Concord City Council agreed to spend $531,496 for drones as the police department moves forward with its drones as first responders program.
With the 5-0 council approval, the Concord Police Department will purchase two Skydio X10 drones, three Weatherproof Docking Stations, and associated hardware, installation, and 31 months of software and maintenance services from Axon Enterprise Inc. at a cost of $439,866.55. After adding in a 15% contingency for possible additional project needs, the total not-to-exceed amount requested is $505,847. The 10 additional Body Worn Cameras are required for both professional and sworn staff who respond to calls for service and interact with the public.
However, prior to the vote, the council received a presentation from Concord Police to showcase the drone program which also addressed privacy and data concerns.
Concord Police Chief Mark Bustillos said Concord has grown, but the size of the police department has not which meant they had to work smarter using technology, noting some of the drone usage is being done in other communities.
The presentation was by Lt. Josh Gilfry who first provided a presentation for drones as first responders which he called the future of public safety. He said the program enhances and modernizes response while improving safety.
Currently, Concord police have been using drones since 2021 with 14 FAA Part 107 Certified pilots. Concord Police have had 864 total missions conducted—with 790 being law enforcement operations and 74 have been search and rescues. They have also had zero community complaints.
“The drones have been an invaluable tool for us. It has located numerous missing persons, supported tactical operations and documents complex crime scenes,” explained Gilfry.
He did share limitations which include:
- Manual Deployment required
- Delayed responses times (could take 15-20 minutes before drone operator to arrive on scene)
- Limited operational range
- Missed opportunities for early intervention
- Resource intensive.
Gilfry continued stating they wanted to move towards drones as first responders which included fixed docking stations across the city and would allow for remote launch immediately upon 9-1-1 calls. This would allow drones on scene before officers providing a live overhead video and real time situational awareness.
He explained drones could be on scene within 2 minutes or in some cases as calls are being dispatched, drones could be on scene prior to officers on the street even knowing about the call–allowing resources to scale up or scale down depending on the situation.
He stated Concord Police have identified both Axon and Skydio as technology partners.
Gilfry also addressed privacy concerns as they go directly to and from a call. The camera is zoomed out and is aimed at the horizon in transit so they are not looking in backyards. They also have a public transparency portal that the public can see flights–with an update to the system, they could see it in real-time.
He also shared their Drones as First Responders trial and results where for 4-weeks they launched from the police station. This included 140 calls for services which netted 24 suspects located and 9 suspect vehicles located with 39 calls cleared without ground units. Response times also were down 44.7% for priority 1 and 67.3% for priority 2.
In terms of next steps, they want to install 3 strategic docking stations including police department, a city building near Water Park Way and the center of Concord – with a 2-mile flight radius it gives them 83% coverage across the city. They said they can response to just over 90% priority 1 and priority 2 calls in the city.
Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister asked if 3 drones was enough to cover the city and what was an ideal amount if budget was not a concern.
Chief Bustillos shared they would always want to have 1 extra but ideally they would want 5 as they prove the concept first.
Mayor Carlyn Obringer asked if the drones would potentially cover the industrial area and how would they cover it in the future.
Currently, police can’t monitor that area based on air space approvals due to restrictions of proximity to the airport—PD do plan to increase operations in the future and plan to get emergency waivers when needed which takes approximately 3-minutes.
Staff also addressed privacy and data concerns from the public stating its secure and they do not share the data.
IT Director Greg Taylor shared Concord controls the data and data will not be released without their approval – meaning ICE cannot get the data. While the cameras have the technology for facial recognition, Concord has a policy where they do not perform facial recognition, and the feature is turned off. He reiterated they do not share data unless there is approval. Taylor also noted they have a schedule when data is deleted based on the retention schedule–except homicide, which is kept forever.
Image by Concord Police
Concord Agrees to Spend $531,496 for Drones
After the presentation, in a separate agenda item, council approved the purchase in a 5-0 vote.
The Department will be purchasing two Skydio X10 drones, three Weatherproof Docking Stations, and associated hardware, installation, and 31 months of software and maintenance services from Axon Enterprise Inc. at a cost of $439,866.55 (Attachment 1). After adding in a 15% contingency for possible additional project needs, the total not-to-exceed amount requested is $505,847.
Not related to the Drone as First Responder Program, but from the same vendor Axon Enterprise Inc., the Police Department also requests ten additional Police Body Worn Cameras to augment the current stock for police personnel at a cost of $22,303.45 (Attachment 2). After adding in a 15% contingency for possible additional project needs, the total not-to-exceed amount requested is $25,649.
According to the staff report, In partnership with Axon and Skydio, Concord Police Department launched a trial program to evaluate workflows, hardware/software performance, and deployment strategies. The trial involved manually launching drones from headquarters and flying them remotely to live incidents to simulate a dock-based DFR system.
During the first four weeks of the trial phase, Concord’s DFR teams worked 40 hours per week on overtime (four 10-hour shifts), primarily during peak call times. They responded to 140 calls for service, located 24 suspects, identified 9 suspect vehicles, and cleared 39 calls without requiring ground patrol units. Within the drone’s approximate two-mile operational radius, the department recorded a 44.67% reduction in Priority 1 response times and a 67.29% reduction in Priority 2 response times.
These results demonstrate the drone’s ability to quickly arrive on scene, identify subjects or vehicles, and deliver actionable intelligence to responding officers, often well before ground units arrive. While these findings are limited to the drone coverage area and may not reflect citywide performance, they clearly highlight the DFR program’s potential to improve response efficiency and enhance public safety. The trial also confirmed the system’s value as a de-escalation tool, contributing to safer outcomes for both officers and the community.
As the program transitions to full-time (40 hours per week), the department plans to utilize existing sworn staff and assign one DFR operator on a full-time basis. The need for additional staffing will be evaluated based on program demands and community needs. Any additional full-time DFR operators will be drawn from existing sworn personnel.
The requested action will allow Concord to move from trial to full implementation.
The additional two Skydio X10 drones and three weatherproof docking stations will be used alongside Concord’s two existing Skydio X10 drones to support three fully operational drone/docking station locations, strategically placed across the city based on call volume. One drone will remain available as a standalone unit to support regular patrol operations. The trial phase had a limited coverage area and lacked dedicated staffing.
Full implementation will provide city-wide coverage from three docking stations, with dedicated staff operating the drone during designated hours. The 10 additional Body Worn Cameras are required for both professional and sworn staff who respond to calls for service and interact with the public. This increased need has arisen as the Police Department approaches full staffing levels for these positions.
These additional cameras, which are separate from those used in the Drone as a First Responder program, will be purchased from Axon. Consequently, Council authorization is required due to spending authority controls.
Staff Report — click here
