Constable Precinct 1 and Constable Precinct 4 | Drones
Montgomery County's law enforcement drones were mostly donated rather than bought, and in May 2025 the county signed an interlocal agreement with the river authority to facilitate a Drone First Responder program. On the consent agenda.
At a glance
- First aircraft in the record
- 12 December 2017, a donated DJI Phantom 4 and Part 107 training for five officers, to Constable Precinct 1 from a drone company [1]
- Drone First Responder
- 13 May 2025, an interlocal agreement between Montgomery County and the San Jacinto River Authority "for the purposes of facilitating the Drone First Responder (DFR) program", on the consent agenda [5]
- How the constables get aircraft
- Donations. A drone company in 2017, Multi-County Crime Stoppers in 2024, the City of Splendora in 2025, and a vehicle from the Hospital District that became a drone response unit [1] [4] [5] [6]
- What the county bought itself
- Nothing in the record. A drone with a LiDAR camera was advertised for Information Technology in October 2020 and all bids were rejected in January 2021 [2] [3]
- What the Drone First Responder program does
- Not described. The item names the agreement and the parties and nothing else; the agreement is an attachment on the county website [5]
- A drone policy, or flight records
- Neither has been presented to the Commissioners Court in the minutes the County Clerk publishes [5]
How it happened
- Deployment
A donated Phantom 4
On the consent agenda, the Court accepts a donation of a DJI Phantom 4 and FAA Part 107 online training for five officers, valued at $2,700.00, to Constable Precinct 1 from Drone Systems International Inc. [1]
- Procurement
The county advertises for one of its own
The Court authorizes advertising for a drone with a LiDAR camera and accessories for Information Technology. [2]
- Denied
And rejects every bid
The Court rejects all bids for Project #21-09, the drone with the LiDAR camera. No later item in the record buys one. [3]
- Deployment
Crime Stoppers money towards a constable's drone
On the consent agenda, the Court accepts a $14,250 donation from Multi-County Crime Stoppers towards a drone for Constable Precinct 5. The minutes note that the County Clerk did not receive the check. [4]
- Expansion
A Drone First Responder program, and two more donated aircraft
On the consent agenda, the Court approves an interlocal agreement with the San Jacinto River Authority to facilitate a Drone First Responder program, and accepts a donation from the City of Splendora of two UAS drone aircraft for Constable Precinct 1. [5]
A drone as first responder program launches an aircraft to a 911 call before an officer arrives, so that the camera is overhead while the caller is still on the line. Montgomery County signed an agreement to facilitate one in May 2025. The item that did it is two sentences long.
Donated, not bought
The county’s law enforcement drones arrive as gifts. In December 2017 Constable Precinct 1 accepted a “DONATION ACCEPTED of DJI Phantom 4 along with FAA Part 107 online training through DSI”, the training for five officers, valued at $2,700.00, from a drone company.[1] In March 2024 the Court accepted $14,250 from Multi-County Crime Stoppers towards a drone for Constable Precinct 5, with the note that the “County Clerk did not receive check”.[4] In February 2025 the Montgomery County Hospital District gave Constable Precinct 4 a 2014 Dodge Ram: “This vehicle will be used as our Drone Response Unit.”[6] In May 2025 the City of Splendora gave Constable Precinct 1 two more aircraft.[5]
The one time the county tried to buy a drone with its own money, it did not finish. Information Technology advertised for a “Drone with Lidar Camera and accessories” in October 2020,[2] and in January 2021 the Court approved a “REQUEST APPROVED to reject all bids for Project #21-09 Drone with LiDAR Camera and Accessories for Information Technology”.[3] Nothing in the record buys one afterwards.
The first responder program
On 13 May 2025, inside a consent block covering agenda items 9A through 9V, the Court approved an “INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT APPROVED between Montgomery County and the San Jacinto River Authority, for the purposes of facilitating the Drone First Responder (DFR) program”.[5]
That is all the county’s record says about it. The river authority manages water supply and flood control across the San Jacinto basin and owns towers, dams and property across the county, which is the kind of thing a drone program needs if it is to launch from fixed points. But the minutes do not say that, or who operates the aircraft, or what is recorded, or how long it is kept. The agreement itself is an attachment on the county’s website.
What a gift does not settle
There is nothing improper about a police agency accepting a donated aircraft, and a homeowners’ association or a city buying one for a constable is the ordinary way small Texas agencies get equipment. What a donation does is skip the step where a purchase has to be justified, priced and described in public. The Court accepts it on the consent agenda in a line, and the county acquires a capability without ever having debated whether it wants it.
What we do not know
- What the Drone First Responder program with the San Jacinto River Authority actually does, and who flies.
- How many aircraft the Sheriff's Office, the five constable precincts and the Fire Marshal operate between them.
- Whether any of them records video on routine flights, and how long that footage is kept.
- Whether any Montgomery County agency has a written drone policy.
- What a donor gets, if anything, for buying a public agency an aircraft.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Montgomery County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Montgomery County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 12 December 2017, consent item O1 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 2. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 13 October 2020, consent item E1c · Meeting record · · accessed
- 3. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 26 January 2021, consent item E5 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 4. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 5 March 2024, consent item L2 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 5. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 13 May 2025, consent items I1 and R3 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 6. Montgomery County Commissioners Court, minutes, 11 February 2025, consent item U2 · Meeting record · · accessed
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