Maine State Police Drone Documents

To: Mr. Shawn Musgrave:

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

Yesterday the Maine State Police received the e-mail copied below.

At your convenience, would you please confirm that you have received this initial reply?

Thank you in advance.

Respectfully, Chris

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 
 
THIS E-MAIL, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS THERETO, MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL BY LAW AND/OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH A REPLY E-MAIL AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

To: Mr. Shawn Musgrave

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

This e-mail responds to your recent request, made pursuant the Maine Freedom of Access Act, for the following public records:

1. any requests for proposals, proposals submitted by vendors, contracts, budgets or cost allocations for the purchase, research of and/or use of aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs (hereinafter "drones");

2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on institutional use of drones, including on the legal process required (such as a warrant or court order), if any, before operating a drone;

3. any departmental records concerning this institution's use of and/or research of drones now or plans to use drones in the future including:

a. the types of investigations or instances in which this department is using or plans to use drones, or how it plans to support, manage or oversee the usage of drones by another department or office;

b. policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times;

c. the altitude at which drones can or do fly;

d. drones' ability to carry weapons.

Please be advised that the Maine State Police does not have records responsive your request.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, may contain information that is confidential by law and/or information that is protected by attorney-client privilege. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT me WITH A REPLY E-MAIL at the earliest convenience.

To: Mr. Shawn Musgrave
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

This e-mail concerns your recent request, made pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act, for the following public records:

1. any requests for proposals, proposals submitted by vendors, contracts, budgets or cost allocations for the purchase, research of and/or use of aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs (hereinafter "drones");

2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on institutional use of drones, including on the legal process required (such as a warrant or court order), if any, before operating a drone;

3. any departmental records concerning this institution's use of and/or research of drones now or plans to use drones in the future including:

a. the types of investigations or instances in which this department is using or plans to use drones, or how it plans to support, manage or oversee the usage of drones by another department or office;

b. policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times;

c. the altitude at which drones can or do fly;

d. drones' ability to carry weapons.

Please be advised that, since sending our agency's January 29th, 2013 response to your request, the Maine State Police Command Staff has learned that a subunit of our agency had in its custody at the time of your request a device that appears to fall within the scope of the types of devices you described in your request. The device, purchased for approximately $300, has not been deployed in operations by our agency to date, and will not be so deployed until appropriate agency policies are in place that provide clear guidance to Maine State Police personnel on the use of this technology.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, may contain information that is confidential by law and/or information that is protected by attorney-client privilege. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT me WITH A REPLY E-MAIL at the earliest convenience.

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Our agency is in the process of determining what records we have that are responsive your 2/19 e-mail. Once that process is completed, and a determination has been made as to whether what records we have may be publicly accessed, I will promptly notify you.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 
 
THIS E-MAIL, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS THERETO, MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL BY LAW AND/OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH A REPLY E-MAIL AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

To: Mr. Shawn Musgrave

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

Attached are materials responsive to your Freedom of Access Act request, as described in your initial January 28th, 2013 e-mail that appears below. Please note that some information has been redacted from these materials pursuant to 16 M.R.S. § 614 -- specifically, paragraphs G and H of subsection 1 of section 614. Please also note that the manual regarding the product that was ascertained by our agency may be acquired by contacting the product's manufacturer, Parrot.

The fee for the attached records is five dollars ($5.00), which may be paid with a check or money order made payable to, "Treasurer, State of Maine." Please remit payment, to my attention, to the following address:

Maine State Police
45 Commerce Drive, Suite 1
42 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0042

As a matter of full transparency, please be advised that I understand that there have been at least two occasions in the past when personnel of Maine State Police units have taken the initiative to research and propose the possible acquisition by the Maine State Police, of a drone; those proposals, however, did not move forward, and no such vehicle was actually acquired by our agency. To the extent there are records relating to those past occasions, our agency would need to search for such -- a process that would likely take a considerable amount of time, and for which our agency would charge a fee, as permitted by the Maine Freedom of Access Act. We would also need to determine the extent to which any such records that are ascertained from our search could be made publicly accessible under applicable law (including, but not limited to, the Maine Criminal History Record Information Act). At your convenience, please let me know how you would like to proceed with respect to this aspect of this matter.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 
 
THIS E-MAIL, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS THERETO, MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL BY LAW AND/OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH A REPLY E-MAIL AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

With respect to your follow-up question regarding the fact that your Freedom of Access Act request included the following component:

"[E]mails related to the purchase and use of drones, as well as policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times."

My understanding is that the records I forwarded yesterday are the materials the Maine State Police has regarding the drone our agency has that are responsive to this aspect of your request, save for the possibility that (per my e-mail of yesterday), if a product manual accompanied that vehicle at delivery, the manual may be obtained directly from the product's manufacturer, Parrot.

Again, per my e-mail of yesterday, I understand that there have been at least two occasions in the past when personnel of Maine State Police units have taken the initiative to research and propose the possible acquisition by the Maine State Police, of a drone; those proposals, however, did not move forward, and no such vehicle was actually acquired by our agency. To the extent there are records relating to those past occasions, our agency would need to search for such -- a process that would likely take a considerable amount of time, and for which our agency would charge a fee, as permitted by the Maine Freedom of Access Act. We would also need to determine the extent to which any such records that are ascertained from our search could be made publicly accessible under applicable law (including, but not limited to, the Maine Criminal History Record Information Act).

Thank you.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 
 
THIS E-MAIL, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS THERETO, MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL BY LAW AND/OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH A REPLY E-MAIL AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

Thank you for your e-mail. I will respond further as soon as time permits.

Thanks again.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 
 
THIS E-MAIL, AND ANY ATTACHMENTS THERETO, MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL BY LAW AND/OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROTECTED BY ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH A REPLY E-MAIL AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

To: Mr. Shawn Musgrave

E-mail address: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Dear Mr. Musgrave:

As a matter of further responding to your request for records from the Maine State Police, with this e-mail I am forwarding copies of records relating to the Maine State Police's recent purchase of a Parrot "drone." Please note that some information has been redacted from the records pursuant to the Maine Criminal History Record Information Act. See 16 M.R.S.A. sec. 614.

With respect to your request for an estimate of the cost that would be associated with processing a request for records related to past inquiries into "UAV" purchases: I would estimate the cost to process a request for records relating to two prior occasions in which the possible acquisition of a UAV was raised would be a minimum of ninety dollars ($90); given the pendency of other agency work, I estimate it would take approximately 2 to 4 months to complete the work of processing the request, once that work was initiated.

Finally, to date my office has not received payment of the five dollar ($5.00) fee that was charged by our agency in association with the previous records that were provided to you. Please regard this e-mail as a respectful reminder to remit payment for that fee, which payment may be made with a check or money order made payable to "Treasurer, State of Maine." Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully, C

CHRISTOPHER PARR
COUNSEL | MAINE STATE POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, may contain information that is confidential by law and/or information that is protected by attorney-client privilege. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT me WITH A REPLY E-MAIL at the earliest convenience.