Drone and UAV acquisition, policy, and use (Island County Sheriff's Office)

Dear Daniel Gibbs:
Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 3/19/2024 and given the reference number S003036-031924 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Email
All documents created from January 2010 through the date this request is processed related to the agency's use of airborne tools, vehicles, and weapons: 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 records in each of the below document categories. A response to each of the categories and items would be appreciated.

ACQUISITION AND PROCUREMENT
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;

AUTHORIZATION
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;

EQUIPMENT LOGS and ADD-ONS
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;
iii) records and logs related to any attachments or additional equipment used or designed to be used with the drones, including all license plate readers, video cameras, thermal cameras, data storage, Stingrays or cell phone simulators, etc.

POLICIES AND GUIDANCE
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;

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;

USE DOCUMENTS AND DATA
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.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, 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 look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Daniel Gibbs

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed.

Island County

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good afternoon. This e-mail serves as our acknowledgement to your Public Records Request dated March 19, 2024, pursuant to RCW 42.56.520, in which you asked for a copy of Email All documents created from January 2010 through the date this request is processed related to the agency's use of airborne tools, vehicles, and weapons: 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 records in each of the below document categories. A response to each of the categories and items would be appreciated.ACQUISITION AND PROCUREMENTi) 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;AUTHORIZATIONvii) 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;EQUIPMENT LOGS and ADD-ONSi) 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;iii) records and logs related to any attachments or additional equipment used or designed to be used with the drones, including all license plate readers, video cameras, thermal cameras, data storage, Stingrays or cell phone simulators, etc.POLICIES AND GUIDANCEi) 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;TRAINING DOCUMENTSi) 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; . We process records requests in the order in which they are received, and your request is currently in the queue.  I estimate four to six weeks will be required to make a preliminary assessment of available records, to review the records for responsiveness and possible exemptions and redactions, and to assemble the final collection of documents. It may help to understand that Island County is comprised of multiple “agencies” for the purposes of the Public Records Act.  This is because county government is an amalgam of independently elected officials who maintain exclusive control over their areas of authority, with respect to other county officials.  We maintain exclusive control over the records that pertain to the operation of the Island County Sheriff’s Office. For questions or additional information, please reply to this email. Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good morning.

In processing your request, I noted that you had submitted a public record request approximately five (5) years ago.  At that time, Sheriff Felici wrote to you stating that the Island County Sheriff’s Office does not currently have a drone or UAV and the documents you requested do not exist. Currently, the Island County Sheriff’s Office still does not have a drone or UAV.  While there was an Island County Commissioners’ work session meeting where Eric Brooks, Department of Emergency Management, and Sheriff Rick Felici, appeared and informed the commissioners regarding potential grants, that information can be found at the Island County Commissioners website, https://www.islandcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter.  Look under Board of County Commissioners Work Sessions for 2024, March 13 th, pages 37 and 38 of the agenda; you can also listen to the meeting. I will address each subheading of your request individually below: ACQUISITION AND PROCUREMENT:  No drones have been purchased for the Island County Sheriff’s Office.  Please see link provided above for information regarding grants. AUTHORIZATION:  N/A.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have any unmanned aerial vehicle(s). EQUIPMENT LOGS AND ADD-ONS: N/A.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have any unmanned aerial vehicle(s). POLICIES AND GUIDANCE: N/A.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have any unmanned aerial vehicle(s). TRAINING DOCUMENTS:  N/A.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have any unmanned aerial vehicle(s) USE DOCUMENTS AND DATA: N/A.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have any unmanned aerial vehicle(s). There are over 17,000 e-mails regarding the search terms used – airborne tools, aerial drones, remotely piloted vehicles, RPV, remotely piloted aircraft, RPA, unmanned aerials, UA, unmanned aerial vehicles, UAV, unmanned serial systems, UAS, drone equipment, drone flights, Stingrays, cell phone simulators, drone operatives, drone observers and flight logs.  While a lot of those are newsletters, list servers, and flyers sent to our office, there are still quite a few records that need to be processed. I am still hopeful that this request can be fulfilled by May 7, 2024, but if it is not, I will send you notice of any extensions I am needing.  Currently, your request is number 4/8. For questions or additional information, please reply to this email. Regards,
Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good afternoon.
I am in receipt of your last two updates to your public records request and will address each separately below.

In regards to your April 22, 2024 update: Yes, a drone was used regarding a bank robbery and Sheriff Felici and Chief Norris addressed this subject in letters dated May 15, 2019 and May 29, 2019, which will be included in the responsive records. In response to an e-mail I had sent you, you responded with “Well what the sheriff told me is that your department has used a private individuals drone, for looking for a fleeing bank robbery suspect.”
But recently alert whidbey 2.0 a facebook group who posts the dispatch calls heard over the scanner. within the last 2 months there was a call where it stated island county sheriffs office was launching a drone to search the area.
There were two incidents, one in February and one in March of this year, where Oak Harbor Police Department was  assisted.  The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not own any drones. So if the department has a private individual operating a drone on their behalf, than the requested documents i seek still relate to that private individual. And that individual should have a FAA wavier to operate the drone and the department should have a copy. And there should be a agreement between the department and this individual with regards to images captured during the flights. So i would like all the info regarding this private individual who is legally? Illegally? Operating a drone for our sheriff department?
As was stated in the letter of May 29, 2019, Chief Norris stated because of exigent circumstances, there is no written communications nor did the operator charge our office. I have heard from eye witness that witnessed 2 ICSO vehicles parked at greenbank farm. 2 or 3 sheriffs officers standing around operating a drone in parking lot. So is the drone operator a officer? Operating his own private drone? While on duty? There has been too much evidence of island county sheriff operating a drone, in public, over the scanner, in the news paper.
As the Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have drones, it could have been another law enforcement agency?  If you can provide dates from your eyewitness, I can see if there were any calls around Greenbank Farm during that time, placing ICSO in the area. In regard to your April 25, 2024 update: EQUIPMENT LOGS and ADD-ONS 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" Contracts for services related to drones, such as data storage, data analysis, image storage, image analysis, video storage, video analysis, operation, maintenance 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" Upload documents directly:
The Island County Sheriff’s Office does not own or lease any drones.  There are no private contracts for services related to drones with any entity.  While we did ask to have Oak Harbor Police Department to launch a drone in two incidents, you would need to contact their office for any information regarding any contracts for services related to drones. Island County has reviewed its files and has located responsive records to your request.  A first installment is ready for delivery but there is a fee of $2.39, which will be invoiced to you after this letter. I am needing to extend the time in getting the rest of the responsive records to you as to the volume of e-mails received with your search terms.  I hope to have another installment within the next two weeks, but no later than May 24, 2024. Once we have received payment on the first installment, we will release the responsive records to you. If you have any questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail. Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924.
Dear Daniel Gibbs,
You have an invoice available for public records.
Please login to the to make an Island County Public Records Center online payment.
You can also make a check or money order payable to: Island County and mail to:
Island County Sheriff's Office
ATTN: Mary Kaye Weller
1 NE 7th Street, suit #200
Coupeville, WA 98239
Sincerely, 
Mary Kaye Weller
Public Records Officer
Island County
Sheriff

RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924.
Dear Daniel Gibbs,
You have an invoice available for public records.
Please login to the to make an Island County Public Records Center online payment.
You can also make a check or money order payable to: Island County and mail to:
Island County Sheriff's Office
ATTN: Mary Kaye Weller
1 NE 7th Street, suit #200
Coupeville, WA 98239
Sincerely, 
Mary Kaye Weller
Public Records Officer
Island County
Sheriff

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good afternoon. The second installment of responsive records is ready for delivery, as you will note by the invoice that was sent previously. I note that the first installment has not been paid for as of this date.  This is just a reminder that if this is not paid for by June 6, 2024, we will consider this request abandoned and close same. I estimate the next installment will be available on or before June 14, 2024.
For questions or additional information, please reply to this email.
Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

Dear Daniel Gibbs:
Your request has been received and is being processed. Your request was received in this office on 6/3/2024 and given the reference number S003424-060324 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: incident reports from the officers involved on any occasion a drone was used.
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed.

Island County

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good afternoon. By using the parameters you’ve given to me on your request, Email All documents created from January 2010 through the date this request is processed related to the agency's use of airborne tools, vehicles, and weapons: 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”). Search resulted in approximately 18,000 e-mails.  I did take out anything that had to do with urinalysis and uniform allowance, which when using the abbreviation UA finds.  There are still quite a few e-mails to go through in order to fulfill your “all e-mails”, hence the installments. I believe that the responsive records I have already posted to GovQA, fit within your parameters.  You would need to read those to figure out whether they are “junk emails” or not.  Are you revising your request for only “ any emails between employees or other police departments suck as oak harbor related to their drone” and “info related to the private individual who launched their drone for your departments benefit”. I can revise this request to run only the any emails between " employees or other police departments suck as oak harbor related to their drone ” and “info related to the private individual who launched their drone for your departments benefit”. If this is the case, I will stop going through “all e-mails” and do a search for the revised portion only. I will proceed any further on any e-mail searches until I hear from you.  If I don’t hear from you on or before, June 20, 2024, we will consider your request and close same. Also in your request, you separated your request into subheadings, (E-mail, Acquisition and Procurement, Authorization, Equipment Logs and Add-Ons, Policies and Guidance, Training Documents and Use Documents and Data) requesting itemized information on each subheading.  Nowhere in your request did you ask for incident reports from the officers involved on any occasion a drone was used.  We have made this a new request for . “This new request is S003424-060324.  As stated before, the Island County Sheriff’s Office does not have a drone program, we do not have a log for such incidents incident numbers and dates of when your department has requested oak harbors drone or any private individuals drone for assisting the department example: the Key Bank robbery suspect. Would help me clarify and narrow the records im requesting.”
Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924.
Dear Daniel Gibbs,
We have not received your payment on invoice number INV24-S003036-1 for Public Records requested by you on March 19, 2024 with Request Number S003036-031924. If we do not receive payment within the next ten (10) business days, your request will be considered withdrawn.
Please login to the Records Request Center to make an online payment.
You can also make a check or money order payable to: Island County and mail to:
Island County Sheriff's Office
ATTN: Mary Kaye Weller
P.O. Box 5000
Coupeville, WA 98239

Sincerely, 
Mary Kaye Weller
Public Records Officer
Island County
Sheriff

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of June 03, 2024, Reference # S003424-060324 Good afternoon.
This e-mail serves as our acknowledgement to your Public Records Request dated June 3, 2024, 2024, pursuant to RCW 42.56.520, in which you asked for a copy of incident reports from the officers involve on any occasions a drone was used. Further clarification is required to complete your request:  I believe you to mean that you want any reports where one of our officers either asked another agency to assist with the use of their drones and not any case where a drone was mentioned.  If this is incorrect, please let me know on or before June 24, 2024 or we will only provide you with reports where either one of our deputies used a drone for an incident or requested an outside agency to use a drone for our incident. Respond to this email with the details requested above. Upon receipt of clarification, Island County will further respond to your public records request as required by law. For questions or additional information, please reply to this email. Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Public Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office

RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924.
Dear Daniel Gibbs,
We have not received your payment on invoice number INV24-S003036-2 for Public Records requested by you on March 19, 2024 with Request Number S003036-031924. If we do not receive payment within the next ten (10) business days, your request will be considered withdrawn.
Please login to the Records Request Center to make an online payment.
You can also make a check or money order payable to: Island County and mail to:
Island County Sheriff's Office
ATTN: Mary Kaye Weller
P.O. Box 5000
Coupeville, WA 98239

Sincerely, 
Mary Kaye Weller
Public Records Officer
Island County
Sheriff

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of June 03, 2024, Reference # S003424-060324 Good afternoon.

"On June 10, 2024, we sent an email regarding your public records request S003424-060324. We asked you to clarify as to whether you wanted any reports where one of our officers either asked another agency to assist with the use of their drones and not any case where a drone was mentioned. We gave you until June 24, 2024.

At this time, June 26, 2024, we have received no response from you. Therefore, I have selected incidents that fit within the purview of asking an outside agency or where a drone was utilized for an incident.

As you did not clarify your request, and we are providing incident reports, we consider this request fulfilled and will be closed. You may ask follow-up questions within a two-week period, on or before July 10, 2024.

The responsive records related to the public disclosure request referenced above are ready for delivery. A redaction log is also included, with proper authority citing the reason for redactions made throughout the records.Please log in to the Records Request Center at the following link to retrieve the responsive records.

S003424-060324

Per a Washington State Supreme Court ruling, you may seek a judicial review within one year as the Island County Sheriff's Office does not intend to further address this request.

For questions or additional information, please reply to this email or contact our office at (360) 678-4422.

Regards,

Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Public Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office"

--- Please respond above this line ---
RE: Sheriff Records Request of March 19, 2024, Reference # S003036-031924 Good afternoon. June 5, 2024, we sent you an e-mail requesting clarification regarding your public records request S003036-031924 as to “junk emails” and whether you wanted us to revise your request.  We did state that if we didn’t hear from you on or before June 20, 2024, we would consider your request abandoned and close same. As of today, we have received no response, nor have we received any payment on your public records request. With this in mind, we are considering your request abandoned.  This request is closed. You may ask follow-up questions within a two-week period, on or before July 10, 2024.

Per a Washington State Supreme Court ruling, you may seek a judicial review within one year as the Island County Sheriff's Office does not intend to further address this request. For questions or additional information, please reply to this email or contact our office at (360) 678-4422. Regards, Mary Kaye Weller
Civil/Public Records Clerk
Island County Sheriff's Office