Lower Merion commissioners are divided over a $375,000 proposal to put an automated police drone in the sky above the township.
Police Superintendent Andrew Block pitched the Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program at a Sept. 10 budget workshop, first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The system would dock a drone at the township building and launch it automatically when certain 911 calls come in, streaming live video to a remote police operator who directs officers on the ground.
Block said the drone typically launches within 30 seconds of a qualifying call.
"It's not designed to replace the police officers, but it's a force multiplier for us on critical incidents," Block said at the workshop, according to Mainline Media News.
The five-year contract with Axon, which already supplies the township's body cameras, tasers and in-car cameras, would cost $75,000 a year. The drone would be replaced at no cost midway through the contract and returned to the manufacturer for free repairs if problems arise.
Block cited two cases where the drone would have helped: the December 2024 home invasion and murder on Meredith Road in Wynnewood, and a recent road-rage stabbing on the Blue Route in which the suspect fled into Lower Merion. The department already operates five drones, but each requires an officer to travel to the scene and set it up manually.
Commissioners Louis Rossman and Charles Gregory backed the proposal. Gregory, a Ward 4 commissioner who worked for the township for 23 years before joining the board, called it "a no-brainer."
But several commissioners pushed back. Commissioner Maggie Harper Epstein warned of "mission creep," saying the suggestion that other departments could also use the drone raised alarms.
Commissioner Daniel Bernheim said he would be "very uncomfortable" supporting the program without a privacy policy in place. "The drone, when it flies over your house to get to that road, is now flying over an area where there is that reasonable expectation of privacy," Bernheim said.
Board President Todd Sinai drew a distinction between an officer piloting a drone toward a crime scene and one launching automatically "because someone just called something in, and it flies over the township to get to the site, recording along the way."
Commissioner Scott Zelov said the board is "not ready" to approve the system. Zelov said the drone request should not be included in the budget that township staff presents. Instead, commissioners should add it themselves if they choose.
No vote was taken at the workshop.
Block told commissioners the township already has a drone policy but would need to update its code to cover automated launches. Township Manager Ernie McNeely has said the 2027 budget will be released in early November, with a final vote in December.
