Could police drones be coming to Minneapolis?
The short version: WCCO's Ashley Grams lays out Minneapolis's police drone debate, and it's the same speed-versus-surveillance trade-off Flock's ALPR network already forces on every driver.
Our Take
Credit to WCCO's Ashley Grams for framing this clearly: city leaders are pitching "drone as first responder" programs as a faster 911, while civil liberties advocates are asking what happens to all that aerial footage once the emergency is over. That's the right question, because departments across the country have learned to sell surveillance tools on their best-case use and then quietly expand them into routine patrol, traffic enforcement, and data-sharing agreements nobody voted on.
Minneapolis isn't approving a drone program in a vacuum. It's the same city where Flock Safety cameras already log every plate that passes certain corners, building a searchable record of who goes where and when. Add drones that can loiter over a neighborhood and you're stacking one surveillance layer on top of another, with far less clarity about retention, sharing, or who's allowed to pull the footage later.
If you live in the Twin Cities, check our map to see how much ALPR coverage already exists near you, and use our take-action page to push for real limits before drones get added to the mix.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WCCO - CBS Minnesota, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.