Primary Department: Sheriff
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Ed Gonzalez
Managing Department: Sheriff
Managing Department Head/Elected Official: Ed Gonzalez
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Investment Memo
Investment Memo Type: Preliminary Investment Memo
Project Name: HCSO Drone First Responder Program
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Achievement (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Incremental Authorization Requested: $200,000
Total Estimated Project Cost: $200,000
Request Summary:
title
Request for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Drone as a First Responder (DFR) project, for an amount of $200,000 and commercial paper funding in the amount of $200,000.
end
Project Description:
The primary purpose of Drone as a First Responder (DFR) is to enhance public safety, emergency response, and law enforcement efficiency by deploying drones to incident locations before ground units arrive. This technology allows real-time situational awareness, faster response times, and improved decision-making in emergencies such as crimes in progress, medical emergencies, natural disasters, and search-and-rescue operations. DFR programs involve drones strategically stationed in various locations, ready to be deployed when a 911 call or emergency incident is reported. DFR for public safety gained traction in 2018 when Chula Vista, California received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate UAS beyond the visual line of sight of the pilot. Approximately 65% of the time a drone arrives on scene before an officer and approximately 25% of their calls can be cleared without an office making the scene.
Anticipated Project Expenditures and Timeline:
|
Project Scope Breakdown |
Estimated Cost |
Estimated Completion |
|
DFR Initial Set Up |
$200,000- |
Q4FY25- |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
Total |
$200,000 |
- |
Justification & Alternatives:
By integrating drones into emergency responses, communities benefit from faster, safer, and more effective public safety operations, ultimately leading to improved quality of life and better emergency outcomes. Drones can drastically reduce the time on location compared to traditional ground-based responders. The drone's ability to provide real-time data, such as high-resolution images or video, thermal imaging, and live updates, which can improve situational awareness for first responders. Drones can be integrated with CAD, LPR, and other systems to respond more efficiently to calls for service. Drones have the flexibility to respond to different types of emergency situations
Anticipated Impact on Other Funds (If Applicable):
|
Fund Code |
Description |
Estimated Cost |
Funding Method (Existing or Future Budget Request Required) |
Estimated Date of Needs |
|
1000 |
Annual Renewal |
$30,000 |
Future budget Request |
10/1/26- |
|
|
|
$- |
|
- |
|
Total |
|
$30,000 |
|
- |
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: A: Reduce violent crime across the County.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): A4: Improve safety through targeted pursuit of violent crime suspects.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Decision Analysis Matrix Score (rubric on last page):
Previous Court Action: N/A
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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Address:
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Additional Budget Request |
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Commercial Paper |
$ |
$200,000 |
$200,000 |
$30,000 |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Request |
$ |
$200,000 |
$200,000 |
$30,000 |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 8/26/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Legal funding compliance confirmed by:
Department Approval by: Michael Lanham, Director of Finance 8/11/25
OMB CIP Team Approval by:
________________________________________
Commercial Paper Request (For OMB use only):
Receiving Department: Choose an item.
Project PeopleSoft ID:
CP Series Description:
OMB Financial Management contact:
Decision Analysis Matrix scoring tool - Commissioners Court has approved the rubric below for scoring capital projects. Please complete the last two rows for OMB review.
|
Scoring option |
Strategic Plan alignment (3x weighting) |
Evidence base |
Impact on outcomes |
Cost effectiveness |
Ease of implementation |
Collaboration / partnerships |
Environmental sustainability |
Equity |
Total |
|
-1 |
Antithetical to one or more aspects of the Strategic Plan |
Evidence shows net negative impact on the intended goal |
Impact is clearly negative |
Costs expected (or shown) to outweigh benefits |
County has no/limited existing capabilities and dependencies are likely to impede |
Could negatively impact relationships with partners |
Negatively impacts environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Inequitable |
n/a |
|
0 |
Does not align to a Strategic Objective |
Evidence base is not well defined or measurable |
Size of impact on one or more strategic outcomes is negligible or unclear |
Net comparison is unclear |
County has no/limited existing capabilities or dependencies are likely to impede |
Does not involve collaboration with partners |
Net neutral impact on environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Does not consider equity to a meaningful degree |
n/a |
|
1 |
Aligns to a Strategic Objective but not to a Strategic Initiative |
Limited evidence-based research on outcomes; may have qualitative/theoretical support |
Outcomes are defined but without target levels and/or expected impact is moderate |
Moderate direct/indirect benefit relative to costs |
County has existing capability to implement or dependencies are unlikely to impede |
Moderately expands County leverage through collaboration with partner(s) |
Marginally positive impact on environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Considers equity to a meaningful degree, but not comprehensively |
n/a |
|
2 |
Aligns to a Strategic Objective and a Strategic Initiative |
Outcomes are directly supported by evidence base or credible research supports anticipated outcomes |
Outcomes are clearly defined and include target levels; expected impact on outcomes is high |
Significant direct/indirect benefit relative to costs |
County has existing capability to implement and dependencies are unlikely to impede |
Significantly expands County leverage through collaboration with partner(s) |
Positively impacts environment and/or climate change mitigation efforts |
Considers equity meaningfully and comprehensively |
n/a |
|
Score (-1,0,1,2) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
16 |
|
Rationale |
Will make Harris County safer. |
Evidence supportive. |
High impact to emergency situations. |
Significant direct benefits. |
HCSO already has drones and can implement this project. |
Will expand opportunities to partner. |
Positive impact to environment. |
Equity in emergency situations. |
n/a |