By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
The public comment period is now open until Tuesday, December 2nd to comment on the proposed Northfield Police Department’s new drone policy. When proposing the new policy at the most recent City Council meeting, Police Chief Jeff Schroepfer stated that Northfield was behind other departments, noting that Rice County and Dakota County Sheriff’s Offices already had the technology. Use of the drones would include ;
- Search and rescue.
- Crash reconstruction and crime scene documentation
- Threat assessment for public events
- Disaster response
- And then the warrant issued searches
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The department is seeking to purchase two drones, an interior drone and an exterior drone. Schroepfer says the interior drone is a small device that can help protect officers from going inside a dangerous building:
The exterior drone would have a thermal imaging camera, the police chief said that a Rice County Sheriff’s drone had proved useful in September when tracking a suspect:
“It was a drone that found that person initially. So the drone that was tracking that person, and then the helicopter got there from there, and then was able to further track it from there. So that was using Rice County’s drone that was tracking that person and then the helicopter got here from there and was able to further track it from there.” – Jeff Schroepfer, Northfield Police Chief at the 11/18/2025 Northfield City Council Meeting
While several concerns were raised about privacy and data collection with the drone, Schroepfer noted that there are several federal and state laws governing the data collected. He said that it was illegal to use the drones for general surveillance, for tracking a First Amendment event, or for using facial recognition software.
“And then anything else that would authorize would be more so under warrants or other statutorily exceptions that we have. So if we’re going to do searches, most of those would have to have a warrant and searches.” – Jeff Schroepfer, Northfield Police Chief at the 11/18/2025 Northfield City Council Meeting
The overall cost of the new drones and training for officers is estimated at $20,000. The costs are being covered through the sale of old equipment.
To provide public comment, you can email drones@northfieldmn.gov or send a letter to the Police Department. The feedback will then be presented to the City Council. Comments will also be taken at the December 2nd Council meeting.
You can view the policy here: https://www.northfieldmn.gov/1731/Drones
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