Overview
- Oakland County’s Board of Commissioners, which voted 13–4 Wednesday night, approved a trial that lets the sheriff deploy drones to 911 calls under a new data-ownership clause.
- The pilot supplies seven countywide drones for case investigations at no cost for nine months, with a two-year extension estimated at $2.5 million.
- Residents packed the meeting to oppose the plan, citing surveillance and data risks, and booed after public comment was moved until after the vote.
- Sheriff Michael Bouchard said drones have helped find missing people and catch suspects, and he is replacing banned Chinese‑component models with U.S. systems under a pilot that could also include Skydio.
- The board added a clause keeping program data with the sheriff, Flock says footage is encrypted and access‑logged, and the county has not set deployment sites or a start date, with an opt‑out allowed by Dec. 15, 2026.