Persistent Surveillance Systems Invoices (Laredo Police Department)

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August 17, 2016
VIA EMAIL

Brandon Smith
MuckRock News DEPT MR 27379, 411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
RE: Request for Information W006375-080216
Dear Brandon Smith:
On 8/2/2016 the City of Laredo received your request for Police and 911 records.
The City of Laredo strictly adheres to the provisions of the Texas Public Information Act, Texas Government Code Ch. 552 (formerly, Open Records Act), and the interpretative opinions of the Texas Attorney General and the courts. The information you have requested does not exist in document form. The Texas Public Information Act does not require the City to produce documents that are not in existence. You are welcome to submit another request. You may also contact me with any questions at (956) 795-2886.
Sincerely,
Lt. Ricardo Gonzalez

Laredo Police Department

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VIA E-MAIL Brandon Smith
DEPT MR 27379, 411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
RE: Public Information Request Reference#: W006375-080216
Dear Brandon Smith:
This letter is written in response to your request for public information received by the City of Laredo on 8/2/2016 in which you asked for Police and 911 documents pertaining to: Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:All records responsive to the below requests dated from January 1, 2014 through July 28, 2016.- The full documentation of all contracts or non-disclosure agreements (enacted OR IN EFFECT between the above dates) with the companies "Persistent Surveillance Systems" or "Vigilant Solutions"- Copies of all invoices to or from these companies, and documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds to either company- The full documentation of all contracts (enacted OR IN EFFECT between the above dates) with any company other than the two cited above, in which said company provides your department with equipment or services (including software) for 1. license plate scanning or reading or automatic photographing; 2. aerial surveillance, excluding monitoring roadways for speed infractions.- Copies of all invoices to or from any company that fits the description in the prior paragraph, and documents sufficient to show any disbursement of public funds to any company that fits this description- All emails between police department email accounts and users on the domains "pss-1.com" or "vigilantsolutions.com". (One example would be brian.schockley@vigilantsolutions.com. Users on the domain would be in the form of XXXXXXXXX@vigilantsolutions.com)- All paper-based communications between your department and Persistent Surveillance Systems, and between your department and Vigilant Solutions. In asking for all paper and electronic correspondence, this request necessarily includes marketing materials and descriptions of product capabilities for any device, software, or access/capability this department has purchased. A circuit court judge in Illinois recently ruled that non-disclosure agreements signed by public bodies do not trump freedom of information laws when it comes to surveillance equipment/capability purchased by police. Citation:http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/chicago-police-must-finally-produce-stingray-records-judge-orders/- Documents sufficient to show all rules or regulations governing the use of products (hardware or software) that do 1. license plate scanning or reading or automatic photographing; 2. aerial surveillance, excluding monitoring roadways for speed infractions.- The text of all agreements (whether formal, email, memo, or otherwise) between your department and any other public body or department that allows your department to use or access the capabilities of 1. license plate scanning or reading or automatic photographing; 2. aerial surveillance, excluding monitoring roadways for speed infractions.- Documents sufficient to show the month and year your department first entered a program of scanning license plates or accessing a database of scanned plates, if it indeed has such a program (and end date of said program if it has ended).- Documents sufficient to show the total number of license plates scanned in your department's jurisdiction (whether the jurisdiction in this case is precisely or roughly represented) since the department began its plate-scanning program or first purchased access to such a program- Documents sufficient to show the month and year your department first entered a program of persistent aerial surveillance, if it indeed has such a program (and end date of said program if it has ended).- Documents sufficient to show the number of plane-hours of aerial surveillance (excluding monitoring roadways for speed infractions) purchased by your department within the dates at the top of this request. For example, one plane flying for four hours is four plane-hours. Two planes flying for four hours is eight plane-hours.- Documents sufficient to show any attempt made by a representative of your department to inform the public about automatic license plate readers or persistent aerial surveillance. This could include but is not limited to records of town hall meetings, quotes from police spokespeople in local media, or text from the department's website.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 10 business days, as the statute requires..
Unfortunately, your request was denied/closed on August 17, 2016, due to the Department's inability to locate any responsive documents associated to your request.  Since then, some documents have been located and are being released to you in electronic form, attached to these e-mail.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (956) 795-2886.
Sincerely,
Lt. Ricardo Gonzalez
Laredo Police Department

Dear Brandon Smith:

Please be advised that if you wish to submit a new request or check on the status of an already submitted request, you should visit the Open Records Center by clicking here. (http://mygovhelp.us/LAREDO/_cs/supporthome.aspx) Description: TO: [laredo@mycusthelp.net]September 13, 2016Laredo Police Department4712 Maher Ave.Laredo, Texas 78041This is a follow up to request number W006375-080216:To Whom It May Concern:I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 1, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #W006375-080216.Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

Dear Brandon Smith:

Please be advised that if you wish to submit a new request or check on the status of an already submitted request, you should visit the Open Records Center by clicking here. (http://mygovhelp.us/LAREDO/_cs/supporthome.aspx) Description: TO: [laredo@mycusthelp.net]September 28, 2016Laredo Police Department4712 Maher Ave.Laredo, Texas 78041This is a follow up to request number W006375-080216:To Whom It May Concern:I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 1, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #W006375-080216.Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.