City Council withdraws motion to approve expansion of SPPD drone program

After postponing for a week any action on RES 26-1399 — authorizing the Saint Paul Police Department to apply for up to $200,000 from the Department of Justice to expand their “Drones as First Responders” program — the city council today withdrew the resolution from consideration. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Council president Rebecca Noecker said the item was “withdrawn because this council does not support an expansion of our drone program until a number of questions and concerns are addressed, and we will not be authorizing this grant application.”