Drone Documents (Lane County Sheriff's Office)

Shawn Musgrave filed this request with the Lane County Sheriff's Office of Lane County, OR.
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Oregon Public Records Law, I hereby request the following documents:

All documents created from January 2005 to the date this request is processed related to the agency's use of aerial drones, remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), unmanned aerials (UAs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and/or unmanned aerial systems (UASs)(hereinafter “drones”).

Please search specifically for the below document categories, and respond to each of the categories and items:

1) Acquisition documents:

i) requests for proposals (RFPs), proposals/quotes submitted by vendors, contracts, leases, budget requests, project/equipment budgets, cost allocations or reimbursements for the purchase of drone equipment;

ii) Grant applications and award letters for drone equipment purchases;

iii) Insurance contracts for all drone equipment;

iv) Communications (including electronic communications) between the agency head or agency quartermaster (or individual responsible for equipment purchases and maintenance) and drone vendors, manufacturers or retailers;

v) Communications (including electronic communications) between the agency head and agency quartermaster (or individual responsible for equipment purchases and maintenance) regarding acquisition, lease or use of drone equipment;

vi) Communications (including electronic communications) between the agency head and the governor, mayor and city/town manager regarding the acquisition of drones;

vii) Applications (including all components and support documentation) for Certificates of Waiver/Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as COA grant notifications and final agreement;

viii) Contracts for services related to drones, such as data storage, data analysis, image storage, image analysis, video storage, video analysis, operation, maintenance;

2) Equipment logs:

i) Inventories/logs/lists/databases of all drones owned, leased or operated by or for the agency;

ii) Maintenance logs for all drones owned, leased or otherwise operated by or for the agency;

3) Policy documents:

i) Policies, guidelines, protocols, manuals and/or instructions on the use/operation of drones and usage of data, images and video obtained from drone flights;

ii) Communications from the agency head, quartermaster (or individual responsible for overseeing equipment purchases and maintenance) on approved uses for drones;

iii) Memorandums of understanding (MOUs), memorandums of agreement (MOAs) or any other agreements or contracts with other government agencies, private corporations, organizations or individuals to share drone equipment, data, images or video or to operate drones on behalf of the agency;

4) Training documents:

i) Curriculum used to train drone operators and observers;

ii) Training log for all drone operators and observers;

iii) Certifications of training completion for all drone operators and observers;

iv) Contracts, purchase orders, budget requests or reimbursement orders for training sessions for all drone operators and observers;

5) Usage documents:

i) Flight logs for all drone flights, including training flights;

ii) Flight logs transmitted to the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) requirements;

iii) Reprimands relating to drones, including misuse of equipment and failure to properly maintain equipment.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I would request your response within ten (10) business days.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

We are in receipt of your public records request dated October 30, 2013. You are asking for "All documents created from January 2005 to the date this request is processed related to the agency's use of aerial drones, remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), unmanned aerials (UAs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and/or unmanned aerial systems, etc." The County’s response to your request is as follows:

Lane County is the custodian of at least some of the records you have requested. An estimate of when these records can be disclosed, and an estimate of required fees, will be provided to you within a reasonable time.

Oregon public records law and the Lane Manual require the County to provide the public a right to inspect any record that is not otherwise protected, or to obtain copies of public documents not otherwise protected. The County is not obligated to create documents that do not exist, to provide documents that it is not the custodian of record for, to change the format the documents are saved in, to provide the documents in a more expensive format or format that the County doesn’t have the ability to provide the documents in, or to explain the documents.

It is the County’s policy to collect full-cost for any documents provided. This will include staff time researching whether or not the County is in possession of the related documents, copying of documents, and review of the public records by attorneys. The County will inform you of the estimated cost and will wait to receive confirmation from you (and/or payment) prior to incurring any costs associated with complying with this public records request.

If you have any questions regarding your public records request or this response, please feel free to contact me.

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

This will acknowledge your request for records in your email of October 30, 2013. The Sheriff does have something described as a “UAV” and the estimated cost for fulfilling your request is $373.50.

You have also made a request that Lane County waive any fees associated with your request. Unfortunately, Lane County is suffering from a severe financial crunch and cannot waive the fees.

If you would like the records, please remit the requested amount to Lane County and your request will be processed.
Best,

Audra L. Stewart
Interim Public Records Officer
Lane County Administration
125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401
publicrecords@co.lane.or.us
(541) 682-6417

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

Thank you for the cost estimate. Is there a particular component of the request that is contributing to the high cost? I'd like to discuss narrowing it to make it easier to process at a lower price tag.

Thank you,
Shawn

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

Unfortunately, there is not a particular component of the request that is contributing to the high cost. As you can see below, the time spent is pretty evenly spread across the department:

[cid:image001.png@01CEEAC6.18637B00]

In addition, I am also including an email from a Chief Deputy explaining the reason there is so little information:

“The simple response is, "we don't have a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle." What we have is a manned remote control miniature helicopter. It cannot operate in an unmanned capacity.

We don't have policies referencing the use related to search warrant, that is covered by existing law and case law.

Our policies regarding the management of photo/video already exists in the P&E procedures.

The altitude of our machine will be in the equipment specs available from the manufacturer.

Our RC mini helo does not have weapons systems.

The Lane County sheriff's office has recently acquired a remote controlled helicopter miniature aircraft. The product name is DragonFlyer X8 and is produced by Dragonfly Innovations Inc., out of Canada (http://www.draganfly.com/).

This product is not from the military. The sheriff's office purchased the DragonFlyer directly from Dragonfly Innovations Inc. this year using federal grant funding (http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/bzpp/) and no county general fund expense was incurred.

Unlike military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's), the DragonFlyer does not have the ability to be operated autonomously, that is, as self-directing. Nor is it capable of remote location operation, it is designed as a short range vehicle with line of sight remote control in short duration.

The sheriff's office's intended uses for this equipment include:

- Crime scene photography and observation

- Highway crash scene photography

- Search and Rescue

- Tactical aid to in-progress emergency/criminal events

- Critical infrastructure protection

- Natural disaster response and evaluation”

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Audra L. Stewart
Interim Public Records Officer
Lane County Administration
125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401
publicrecords@co.lane.or.us
(541) 682-6417

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

Thank you for this update. I'd like to amend my request as follows, in light of the Chief Deputy's response:

-Acquisition documents: all invoices or other purchase documents to/from the manufacturer of the "remote control miniature helicopter," as well as grant applications and award letters for the funding noted by the Chief Deputy

-Copies of the "P&E procedures" that outline management of photo/video

-Communications (including email) to/from the Sheriff, quartermaster/equipment manager and the noted Chief Deputy for "drones," "remote control," "unmanned aerial vehicle," "remote control helicopter," "Draganflyer" and "Dragonflyer" from January 1, 2005 to the day this request is processed.

-Communications (including email) between the Sheriff and the county board of commissioners regarding use of the Draganflyer

-Applications (including all components and supporting documentation) for Certificates of Waiver/Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as COA grant notifications and final agreement for all waiver(s)

-Training log for all operators and observers

-Contracts, purchase orders, budget requests or reimbursement orders for training sessions for all drone operators and observers

-Flight logs for all flights, including training flights

-Flight logs transmitted to the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) requirements

Please let me know if I can further clarify the above.

Best,
Shawn

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

We are in receipt of your updated public records request dated December 4, 2013.

Lane County is uncertain whether the records you have requested are possessed by Lane County. Lane County staff will search for these records and provide you with additional information on your request within a reasonable time.

Oregon public records law and the Lane Manual require the County to provide the public a right to inspect any record that is not otherwise protected, or to obtain copies of public documents not otherwise protected. The County is not obligated to create documents that do not exist, to provide documents that it is not the custodian of record for, to change the format the documents are saved in, to provide the documents in a more expensive format or format that the County doesn’t have the ability to provide the documents in, or to explain the documents.

It is the County’s policy to collect full-cost for any documents provided. This will include staff time researching whether or not the County is in possession of the related documents, copying of documents, and review of the public records by attorneys. The County will inform you of the estimated cost and will wait to receive confirmation from you (and/or payment) prior to incurring any costs associated with complying with this public records request.

If you have any questions regarding your public records request or this response, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Audra L. Stewart
Interim Public Records Officer
Lane County Administration
125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401
(541) 682-6417

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

Lane County is the custodian of at least some of the records you have requested. We estimate that the cost of researching and copying a partial response to your request is $ 161.73, calculated as follows:

Employee Classification Wage Time Spent Total
XXX Exec Assist 47.22 0.5 23.61
XXX Records 42.86 0.5 21.43
XXX Sergeant 67.29 1 67.29
XXX Sr. Acct. Clerk 43.10 0.5 21.55
XXX Management Analyst 55.70 0.5 27.85

TOTAL 161.73

For your requests regarding the communications, the request is too broad. This office requests clarification of your request in an effort to acquire information for the purpose of assisting us in our search for records and expediting a response to your request. Please identify as specifically as possible that which you are requesting.

Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

Audra

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

It has been 3 months since I amended my request, so I would again ask for a waiver of fees as both a journalist and a requester seeking government transparency in a prompt manner.

With that in mind, I agree to further narrow my request to:

-Acquisition documents: all invoices or other purchase documents to/from the manufacturer of the "remote control miniature helicopter," as well as grant applications and award letters for the funding noted by the Chief Deputy

-Copies of the "P&E procedures" that outline management of photo/video

-Applications (including all components and supporting documentation) for Certificates of Waiver/Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as COA grant notifications and final agreement for all waiver(s)

-Training log for all operators and observers

-Flight logs for all flights, including training flights

-Flight logs transmitted to the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) requirements

Please let me know if I can further clarify the above.

Best,
Shawn

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

I have received your follow up to your previous request, recently narrowed down on March 7, 2014. This will require some research on my part. I will get back to you next week with an updated response.

Thank you,

Miranda Rollins
Interim Public Records Officer
125 East 8th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

We are in receipt of the follow up to your public records request dated March 7, 2014. The County’s response to your request is as follows:

~ Lane County is the custodian of at least some of the records you have requested. We estimate it will take approximately 7-10 days before the public records may be inspected or copies of the records can be provided. We estimate that the cost of researching and copying the requested records is $130.68, calculated as follows:

a. Staff time (calculated by hourly rate; plus 2.5%)

Oregon public records law and the Lane Manual require the County to provide the public a right to inspect any record that is not otherwise protected, or to obtain copies of public documents not otherwise protected. The County is not obligated to create documents that do not exist, to provide documents that it is not the custodian of record for, to change the format the documents are saved in, to provide the documents in a more expensive format or format that the County doesn’t have the ability to provide the documents in, or to explain the documents.

It is the County’s policy to collect full-cost for any documents provided. This will include staff time researching whether or not the County is in possession of the related documents, copying of documents, and review of the public records by attorneys. The County will inform you of the estimated cost and will wait to receive confirmation from you (and/or payment) prior to incurring any costs associated with complying with this public records request.

If you have any questions regarding your public records request or this response, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Miranda Rollins
Interim Public Records Officer
125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401
(541) 682-6417

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

I agree to pay fees up to $130.68 — please proceed with fulfilling this request, but advise if fees are estimated to exceed this level.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

From: Lane County Public Records

I have received your email and will now begin processing this request. I will let you know if the cost will exceed the previous estimate of $130.68.

Please feel free to contact me with any other questions.

Thank you!
Miranda Rollins

From: Shawn Musgrave

Thank you!

Please let me know when records are ready, and/or when a check needs to be mailed. Please also include clear instructions as to the appropriate agency/office/component to which payment should be directed.

-Shawn

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Lane County Public Records

Greetings:

Attached, please find documents in response to your public records request. Thank you for your payment.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Audra L. Stewart
Public Records Officer
125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401
(541) 682-6417

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