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

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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