Houston City Council is set to discuss and vote on an ordinance Wednesday that would authorize the city to pursue federal funding for drone technology aimed at expanding aerial oversight and situational awareness at large-scale public events.
The ordinance is Houston’s first step toward securing a share of Fiscal Year 2027 Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Program (C-UAS-GP) funding. Think of it this way — the State of Texas does the heavy lifting on the application, but the city has to raise its hand first.
The Director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety & Homeland Security, Larry Satterwhite told KPRC 2 the funding is aimed at strengthening the city’s ability to see more, cover more ground and keep people safe at Houston’s biggest events.
City officials are also working to establish guardrails around the use of the technology to ensure it is deployed responsibly, if council agrees to apply for the grant.
Houston’s size and the scale of its events make situational awareness a top priority, the director said.
“Situational awareness is always important. Houston is a big city, and we do big things here,” Satterwhite said. “A lot of that is making sure that everybody is as safe as possible.”
At large events, law enforcement teams cannot monitor every angle from the ground — and that limited visibility is exactly what this technology is designed to address, according to the Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
The director acknowledged the ongoing challenge of resource limitations in a city of Houston’s size — and pointed to drone technology as a way to extend the reach of the officers already on the ground.
Funding from the C-UAS Grant Program would go toward aerial monitoring and public safety support tools, putting additional capabilities in the hands of public safety officials. Much of that operational capability, the director noted, would ultimately land with the Houston Police Department.
The Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Program was established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 and provides funding to help state and local governments expand aerial monitoring, situational awareness and public safety capabilities at major events and in communities nationwide.
Wednesday’s City Council vote is the first step in a process that could bring significant new public safety resources to Houston.
If the ordinance passes, Houston would join cities and counties across the country in building out stronger aerial oversight capabilities — with a particular focus on protecting the large-scale special events that define life in one of America’s biggest cities.
