{"id":62107,"date":"2025-11-20T14:57:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T14:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62107\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T14:57:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T14:57:06","slug":"berkeley-city-council-approves-first-response-drones-pause-in-mills-act-applications-city-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/62107\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley City Council approves first response drones, pause in Mills Act applications | City Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to direct the city manager to begin the process of acquiring drones<\/a> for first response operations in Berkeley. The council also voted for a pause in Mills Act applications<\/a>, which help homeowners preserve properties deemed historic landmarks.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Item 31: Unmanned Aerial Systems and Drones as First Responders. After a lengthy discussion lasting just under two hours between the council, Berkeley Police Chief Jennifer Louis, Police Operations Captain Joe Okies, Fire Chief David Sprague and Deputy Fire Chief Keith May, the city voted to take the next steps in assessing drone use for first response in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

The item, which was approved 8-1 \u2014 Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra registered the only no vote \u2014 instructs the city manager to begin the process for the \u201cBerkeley Police Department to acquire and use Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) including drones as First Responders,\u201d according to the item. This will include looking into the various vendors and developing use policies, according to Louis.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery important pieces of a use policy will always include transparency and accountability,\u201d Louis said. \u201cIt will be instrumental to us to ensure that those pieces exist in our use policies and are very clearly articulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

This item came in response to a recent Public Safety Commission vote, which unanimously made a positive recommendation in favor of potential acquisition and use of drones in the city. The process will follow Berkeley\u2019s Surveillance Technology Ordinance, or STO, which requires auditing, transparency and data protection for acquiring and using surveillance technology.<\/p>\n

During the discussion, Okies highlighted that other neighboring municipalities are already implementing this technology. According to Okies, since San Mateo began using first response drones, it has seen a significant drop in response times for incidents and can clear calls without police presence. Louis noted that with continued staffing shortages, Berkeley\u2019s adoption of this technology would allow the department to better allocate current resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always strikes me when we start to talk about the different ways we can use these technologies that there\u2019d be so many opportunities for both fire and some of our city departments to use (them) to increase efficiencies,\u201d Louis said.<\/p>\n

While the majority of the council agreed with the practical applications of drone usage outlined by the BPD and BFD leaders \u2014 including car chase surveillance, conducting threat assessments, search-and-rescue operations and improved fire response \u2014 the council peppered the chiefs with questions on privacy concerns, the potential cost of the program and potential use cases outside the scope of the departments.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Shoshana O\u2019Keefe was especially concerned about the privacy implications, asking if the drones\u2019 onboard thermal imaging technology could view people in their homes \u2014 for example, while using the bathroom.<\/p>\n

Louis said that while the drone could see a thermal outline of a person, it wouldn\u2019t be able to see specifics beyond \u201csomeone in a seated position.\u201d In an effort to address privacy concerns, Louis noted that their use case policy would be informed by \u201cBerkeley values,\u201d STO regulations, and guidance from the council and public.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe also expressed excitement about the potential for drones being used in search-and-rescue missions at the Berkeley Marina. She noted that her husband often goes kite surfing and believes it would be a good idea to have a drone stationed at the marina at all times.<\/p>\n

Louis said that she plans to come back to the council in February with next steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Item 30: Pausing Berkeley authorization for Mills Act agreements. The council also unanimously approved pausing Mills Act agreements. The Mills Act, a state law passed in 1972, allows municipalities to help homeowners preserve historic buildings while receiving a reduction in property taxes.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Mark Humbert, who authored the resolution, said that the policy was not about devaluing landmark preservation in the city but rather about the current budget constraints the city is facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that pausing is the only responsible course,\u201d Humbert said. \u201cThe Mills Act was passed at a time when California homes and commercial properties, especially those which were historic but distressed, were much more affordable \u2026 Even our most distressed properties now go for prices that tend to lock out all but the most affluent \u2026 and those folks by and large do not need these tax breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to direct the city manager to begin the process of acquiring drones…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7981,37522,12504,37521,12500,36011,143,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-62107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-berkeley-city-council","9":"tag-david-sprague","10":"tag-jennifer-louis","11":"tag-joe-okies","12":"tag-mark-humbert","13":"tag-mills-act","14":"tag-oakland","15":"tag-oakland-headlines","16":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}