Supervisors approve $3 million Axon drone contract for the sheriff in 4-1 vote, with a surveillance study to follow
The Oct. 13 vote authorizes a 92-month Axon agreement for Skydio drones for the Sheriff's Office, growing the fleet to a peak of 18 aircraft. Supervisor Luis Alejo dissented, public commenters opposed the deal, and the board directed staff to return with a surveillance-technology impact study.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to let the Sheriff's Office enter a contract with Axon Enterprises worth about $3 million for drones, according to reports from Monterey County Weekly and Citizen Portal. Supervisor Luis Alejo cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing for a smaller, shorter deal.
The agreement runs 92 months, valued at about $3.03 million, and supplies Skydio drones through Axon on a managed cycle of acquisition, maintenance, training and scheduled hardware refreshes. The fleet is planned to grow to a peak of 18 aircraft. A shorter five-year alternative was priced at about $2.29 million, with higher annual outlays. Commander Scott Davis, presenting for the sheriff, described three Skydio models with different roles, among them a thermal-imaging aircraft, a small indoor model and a larger, faster aircraft, the Weekly reported.
Davis told the board the drones could be used as first responders on calls for service and could cross the county's large geographies quickly. The Sheriff's Office would cover a first-year cost of roughly $115,000 and account for later years in future budgets, with Sheriff Tina Nieto committing to fit the funding inside the existing budget rather than seek added money, according to the Weekly. Supervisor Wendy Root Askew voiced frustration with repeated budget requests from the Sheriff's Office.
"I am more comfortable with a shorter-term contract so it doesn’t lock in the county’s obligation," Alejo said, as quoted in the Weekly's Local Spin column, which reported he pushed for no more than eight drones over five years.
Every public commenter at the meeting spoke against the drones, the Weekly reported, and Michelle Welsh of the Monterey County chapter of the ACLU called for studies of the technology. The approval came weeks after the same board moved against a different surveillance system, ending the sheriff's Flock camera program; commenters noted the county had declined a $1.7 million Flock contract covering 63 cameras. On privacy, Davis said drones could not simply be sent around a neighborhood without a reason, and the Local Spin column noted the sheriff's drone program dates to 2016, its adopted policy prohibits random surveillance activities, and the data is held by the county rather than a third-party company.
The board did not treat the vote as the last word on oversight. Alongside the approval, supervisors directed the county administrative office, county counsel and the sheriff to return with a comprehensive surveillance-technology impact study and policy framework, and with stronger public-facing transparency measures, Citizen Portal reported.
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