Drone Documents (Fort Worth Police Department)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act , I hereby request the following records:

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 look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

Dear Shawn Musgrave:

Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Fort Worth, Texas. Your request has been received and is being processed in accordance with Chapter 552 of Texas Government Code, the Public Information Act. Your request was received in this office and given the log number W029553-101613 for tracking purposes.

Records Requested: *see original request attached* To Whom It May Concern: Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act , I hereby request the following records: 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 look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires. Sincerely, Shawn Musgrave Filed via MuckRock.com E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com For mailed responses, please address (see note): MuckRock News DEPT MR 8145 PO Box 55819 Boston, MA 02205-5819 PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.

Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City 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. PLEASE NOTE: The Texas Public Information Act does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.

You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again, thank you for using the Open Records Center. If you have questions about how your request was processed or if I can be of further assistance, please contact me at (817) 392-8184.

Annette Henderson
Public Information Coordinator

Dear Shawn Musgrave,

This letter responds to your request for information to the City of Fort Worth, dated and received in our office on 10/16/2013.

The City of Fort Worth Aviation Department has reviewed its files and has determined there are no responsive documents to your request.

If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, you may contact me at 817-392-5400.

Sincerely,

Trikinya Johnson
Aviation Department

Mr. Musgrave,

Good afternoon. Concerning your request for information on the City of Fort Worth's drone program, the short answer is that we don't have one. No department uses drones and you will receive an affidavit concerning the record search.

However, you also broadly asked for email communications. The only way that we can say there is no email traffic relevant to your request is to specifically search key persons' email accounts. The extraction and physical search of these accounts is time consuming and costly, and under your broad definitions, we could be looking at two dozen persons' accounts. The City will charge an hourly rate of $15 for these extractions and searches (reading), per the Texas Public Information Act. This may run into hundreds of dollars depending upon the time required. Further, we will have to estimate the cost prior to work and you will need to provide a deposit for half the amount.

Please clarify, and let us know if you are still interested in the extraction of emails for this request, in light of the associated costs, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Respectfully,

Sergeant R. H. Simmons, 2786
Fort Worth Police Department
Internal Affairs/Legal Liaison Unit