St. Louis Mayor Spencer Denies Approval of $300 Million Federal Grant for Police Technology
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer announced that neither she nor any city officials approved a $300 million federal grant awarded to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, which is slated to fund crime-fighting technology, including a new drone program. The…
St. Louis, MO, November 4, 2026 — St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer has stated that neither she nor any other city officials gave approval for a $300 million federal grant that has been awarded to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The grant is intended to finance crime-fighting technology, a portion of which is allocated for a new drone program.
The St. Louis Police Board has approved the drone program. Mayor Spencer, however, voted against this approval. Her opposition stemmed from what she described as a lack of community input regarding the program. The specific details of the crime-fighting technology beyond the drone program were not provided. The contractor or entity that submitted the grant was not named in the announcement. The specific amount allocated to the drone program within the overall $300 million grant was also not specified. The nature of the community input that was deemed insufficient was not detailed. It was not stated what the next steps would be following the Police Board’s approval of the drone program, or the mayor’s dissenting vote. The exact date of Mayor Spencer’s announcement was not provided. Information regarding the total amount of the federal grant or its specific allocation details was not made available at the time of reporting.
Story summarized from the original created by Steph Conquest-Ware on www.stlpr.org, see more information here.
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