The West Valley City Council votes Tuesday, November 10, on a deal with Motorola Solutions that would give the Utah city’s police department three BRINC drones for a year at no cost. The package covers a docked drone dispatched directly to calls, a tactical drone officers launch from their vehicles, and a small indoor drone for SWAT work.
Police Chief Colleen Jacobs told the council on October 27, according to draft minutes, that the drones are meant for emergency response, not surveillance. Her issue paper lists the price if the program continues, $174,997 a year for five years, and says the city can cancel at any point in the first year at no cost.
Motorola’s quote totals $874,985, and the contract attached to it starts those paid years automatically unless the city cancels.
Motorola’s Contract Starts the Paid Years Unless West Valley Cancels
The $874,985 is the paid part of a six-year BRINC subscription Motorola quoted on September 15: nothing in year one, then $174,997 a year for years two through six. Under Motorola’s customer agreement, the paid years begin on their own unless the city gives notice that it is leaving…