Richmond police will get new drones and surveillance cameras, but not, for now, the license plate readers they asked for. With minutes to go before the City Council's 11 p.m. cutoff on Tuesday, members voted 5-2 to approve the rest of the package and send the plate-reader piece back for more negotiation, the Grandview Independent reported. Mayor Eduardo Martinez and Councilmember Sue Wilson voted no.
What passed
The vote covers an expanded contract with Axon, which already supplies the department's body cameras and Tasers, plus a separate deal with Assure MSP for Verkada security cameras at city buildings, parks and the Port of Richmond. According to the city's staff report, the full Axon proposal would have added $3.5 million, bringing the contract to as much as $12 million through 2031, and the Verkada contract is capped at $500,000. The council cut the Axon price to reflect the removed readers, the Independent reported.
The equipment list in the staff report includes 60 solar-powered cameras and Skydio drones, six of them with docking stations. Police Chief Tim Simmons said the new docks would extend drone coverage to Hilltop, Carriage Hills and Point Richmond; the city's single current drone reaches roughly 60 to 70% of Richmond, he said.
Why the readers stalled
Richmond shut off its Flock license plate cameras last fall after learning police agencies around the country could search its data, and the council voted in March to keep Flock only through Dec. 31. Simmons proposed replacing its 110 readers one for one with city-owned Axon units, with outside sharing requiring a deliberate step by an administrator.
Before the vote, Sarah Hamid of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told the council that switching vendors wouldn't remove the risks. "An alert is a lead. It's not proof of identity, and it's not probable cause," she said, according to the Independent. Simmons acknowledged he wouldn't promise the readers reduce crime, calling them a tool that produces leads where there might be none. Most of the 21 public speakers opposed the readers, while the police officers' union president defended the technology.
Vice Mayor Doria Robinson said she wanted to see a $20,000 study of how Richmond has actually used plate readers before deciding. The council never reached that study Tuesday night.
The clock
Simmons told the council last month that Axon needs at least 90 days to make the switch, Richmondside reported, so further delay could leave the city with a gap in coverage after Flock shuts off. Councilmember Soheila Bana suggested bringing the readers back in late October. The same meeting ran out of time before a scheduled first look at the Air District's preliminary health study of the Chevron refinery.