Drone and UAV acquisition, policy, and use (Massachusetts State Police)
| Multi Request | Drone and UAV acquisition, policy, and use |
| Submitted | Aug. 5, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
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.
This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted to your agency at the suggestion of a MuckRock reader from your community, part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide. This has been of public interest for many years and is of particular interest to the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and subsequent First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion. There is no commercial interest in making this request or in receiving responsive records.
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.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Massachusetts Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 5, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Massachusetts State Police
Good Afternoon,
Please be advised that the Office of the Chief Legal Counsel of the Massachusetts State Police is in receipt of your public records request regarding "Drone and UAV acquisition, policy, and use." The Department considers your request as a submission pursuant to G.L. c. 66, §10, the Massachusetts Public Records Law. In researching this request, the Department submitted a request to the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), who conducted a search of emails using some of the keywords from your request. This search resulted in approximately 650,000 emails that may be potentially responsive to the four portions of your request for communications related to drones.
Given the large number of potentially responsive emails, the Department intends on filing a fee petition in response to your request. However, if you would like to submit a narrowed request in terms of scope or time frame and withdraw this request, the Department would consider that a new request under the public records law. Please bear in mind that the Department instituted the unit responsible for drone training and operation in approximately 2016.
Anthony Serra
Staff Legal Counsel
Office of Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Telephone: (508) 820-2391
The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, may be protected by the attorney-client or other applicable privileges, or may constitute non-public information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete all copies of it from your computer system. Any use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.
From: Massachusetts State Police
Good Afternoon,
The Department of State Police ("Department") has received and reviewed your request for seeking records related to "[d]rone and UAV acquisition, policy, and use." The Department considers your request as a submission pursuant to G.L. c. 66, §10, the Massachusetts Public Records Law. Attached please find the Department's response to your request.
If you wish to challenge any aspect of this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records following the procedure set forth in 950 C.M.R. 32.08, a copy of which is available at http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-source/cmr/. You may also file a civil action in accordance with M.G.L. c. 66, § 10A. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Anthony Serra
Staff Legal Counsel
Office of Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Telephone: (508) 820-2391
The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, may be protected by the attorney-client or other applicable privileges, or may constitute non-public information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete all copies of it from your computer system. Any use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.
From: Massachusetts State Police
Good Afternoon,
The Department of State Police ("The Department") received a public records request from Ms. Beryl Lipton of Muckrock on August 10, 2020. After reviewing the request, the Department responded with a fee estimate. The estimate was sent to the requestor today. The Department respectfully requests that the Supervisor allow the attached fee petition. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Anthony Serra
Staff Legal Counsel
Office of Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Telephone: (508) 820-2391
The preceding email message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential, may be protected by the attorney-client or other applicable privileges, or may constitute non-public information. It is intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by replying to this message and then delete all copies of it from your computer system. Any use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this message by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.
From: Massachusetts State Police
Hello,
Please be aware, the Supervisor of Records has issued a determination relating to a petition in which you were involved. This determination is attached, and available online at: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/AppealsWeb/AppealsStatus.aspx.
If you have any questions, please contact the Public Records Division at 617-727-2832 or pre@sec.state.ma.us<mailto:pre@sec.state.ma.us>.
Thank you,
Robert Hyland
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
One Ashburton Place, Room 1719
Boston, MA 02108
617-727-2832
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