The Reno City Council voted unanimously Dec. 10 to approve a contract for a drone-as-first-responder pilot program that the Reno Police Department says will place roof-mounted drone launch pads at four city sites and dispatch drones automatically to priority-1 calls.

Reno Police Chief Nance described the program as an operational tool to get “eyes on scene” faster than patrol cars, improving officer safety and potentially allowing delivery of small emergency payloads such as defibrillators or Narcan. Brink, the vendor that developed the system, said its units reach incident areas in about 70 seconds on average in other jurisdictions and can clear roughly one in four incoming 911 calls by confirming that a situation does not require further response.

Council members used the public briefing to press staff on civil‑liberty safeguards, automatic deployment rules, data collection and the program’s long‑term cost. Chief Nance said the pilot’s first year will be provided at no cost; years 2–6 would create a new budget obligation unless the city opts out with 30 days’ notice prior to year 2. She also said usage would follow existing legal restrictions on surveillance, requires warrants for some searches, and that human pilots will monitor deployments and exercise judgment before in‑scene surveillance expands beyond public view.

The contract approved by council authorizes initial deployment and a one‑year evaluation. City staff said they will collect deployment metrics (number and type of calls responded to, number of cancellations after drone reconnaissance, flight times and payload deployments) and return with results and funding recommendations before committing to paid years of service.

The motion to approve passed without recorded opposition.