Minnetonka police to send drones first in response to some 911 calls

Minnetonka police will soon begin sending drones first to some 911 calls to gauge the situations faster and, in some minor cases, determine whether officers are needed.

“By deploying drones to calls within moments, we can assess situations faster, send the right resources and help protect both the public and our officers,” Police Chief Scott Boerboom said in a statement Friday.

The department said it will become the first in Minnesota to join the Drones as First Responder program.

More than 100 law enforcement agencies in the state used drones in 2024, according to statistics compiled by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Agencies have used them to help search for missing people, document weather damage or track traffic congestion, among other things.

Police used a drone in June to look inside the home of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman after encountering a gunman outside her door — and in the subsequent hunt for Vance Boelter, who later was charged in the shooting spree that left Hortman and her husband dead and another lawmaker and his wife wounded.

Minnetonka police already have one drone, which they can use to help search for crime suspects or missing people.

When the department launches the Drones as First Responders program in August, leaders hope to have five or six drones. The drones will be housed on the rooftops of some police and fire stations, and sent out to 911 calls, when appropriate. Live video captured by the drones will be fed back to police.

“They provide officers with information that we just don’t know from the time someone calls 911 to the time we get there,” Deputy Police Chief Jason Tait told City Council members in a meeting this year.

That, Tait said, “allows us to get to the scene very quickly, see what’s happening and relay that information to those officers.”

Police leaders hope the program will improve officers’ safety and allow supervisors to deploy them more efficiently.

Tait told council members that, based on results seen in other cities, he estimates that more than 7,500 calls Minnetonka police handled last year could have involved a drone. He said almost half of them could have been resolved in less than 2 minutes.

In interviews and public meetings, police leaders discussed some of the types of cases that might be handled more efficiently with a drone.

Police spokesperson Jessica Casesaid that in one pilot city, officers received a call about someone breaking into a car, but the drone camera revealed that someone had been locked out of their own car. The incident was downgraded from a “stolen vehicle” report to a call for “lost keys,” allowing officers to better prioritize their responses, Case said.

Tait gave City Council members another hypothetical example: If a 911 caller reports a suspicious, red vehicle in their neighborhood, officers might be able to send a drone to determine if it’s still there — and avoid sending a officer if it has already left.

Case said drones will not be able to conduct surveillance. “They have to respond to a call, and they will not record anything until they are at that call site,” Case said.

The city also plans to create a public website people can use to review information about drones and how they are being used.

The program will cost about $300,000 per year, though police leaders said that will be less expensive than hiring more employees. Tait told council members he anticipates the city could save about $5 million over the course of the 10-year contract for the Skydio drones.

The City Council unanimously approved the contract in May. During that meeting, Council Member Deb Calvert thanked police leaders for “thinking creatively.”

“We have a lot of needs and this helps us meet our needs in a more financially efficient way,” Calvert said.