Drone Documents (Miami-Dade County Police)

Shawn Musgrave filed this request with the Miami-Dade County Police of Miami-Dade County, FL.
Est. Completion None
Status
Partially Completed

Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Florida's Sunshine Law (Fla. Stat. secs. 119.01 to 119.15 (1995)), 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 would request your response within ten (10) business days.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

From: Fina-Milian, Aida M.

I have forwarded your request to Det. Javier Baez of the Public Information Section as I am no longer assigned as a Public Information Officer. Should you need to contact him, he can be reached at (305)471-1900.

Sincerely,

Aida M. Fina-Milian, Sergeant
Miami-Dade Police Department
Police Legal Bureau
Diversion and Community Service Unit
Phone: (305)596-3850 Ext. 231
Fax: (305)270-5352
“Delivering Excellence Everyday”

From: Baez, Javier J.

Mr. Musgrave,

Good morning. Please call me at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Det. Baez,

I prefer to keep most communications over email, for tracking and followup purposes. Can we resolve any confusion regarding the request via email?

Best,
Shawn

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Baez, Javier J.

Mr. Musgrave,

I am in receipt of your public records request; however, wanted to speak to you as the request is large in nature and there will be high costs associated with it. Therefore, if we can discuss the request, perhaps we can clarify the request and provide you with an estimate cost prior to beginning the search.

I thank you in advance and hope to speak to you soon.

From: Baez, Javier J.

Good morning Mr. Musgrave,

I am following up on your records request dated October 15, 2013, requesting Drone Documents.

Your request, as written, is very broad and it would entail extensive work from numerous County agencies and departmental entities. We've initiated communication with you on several occasions in an attempt to clarify and narrow your requests, to no avail. Without such clarity, we are unable to accurately assess the scope and manpower needed to complete the task and therefore cannot provide you with a cost estimate, as requested.

Please contact me at (305) 471-1900, to discuss the matter if you still wish to proceed. At this time, we will consider your request withdrawn, awaiting further communication from you.
Regards,

Javier Baez, Detective
Miami-Dade Police Department
Office of the Director
Public Information and Education Bureau
9105 NW 25 Street, Suite 1060
Doral, Florida 33172
Office (305) 471-1900
Fax (305) 471-1904
"Delivering Excellence Every Day"

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

Apologies that we had not had a chance to speak regarding this request -- several weeks ago I indicated that I would prefer to flesh things out by email if possible, but never heard back.

Is there a particular component of the request that is unclear? I realize it is extensive, but I've done my best to be specific within each subhead.

Best,
Shawn

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 15, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Zabaleta, Alvaro A.

Hello Mr. Musgrave,

The Aviation Unit estimates an approximate minimum of 8 work hours to fulfill this request. Some of the records are quite lengthy and they will also require high volumes of copies.

Hourly rate for the sergeant that would be assigned this task: $52.17
Total sum for the estimated 8-hours of work time: $416.36

*It is important to note that the above work hours are a “best estimate”, based on a review of the request. The actual time spent could vary and the cost could therefore be adjusted. Charges beyond the total approximated sum would be billed at the above mentioned hourly rate.

Aside from the above work, we have the basic MAV electronic packet that is readily available and widely distributed to requestors and media personnel alike. The packet consists of a copy of the MAV facts sheet, our FAA COA, and a draft of our SOP. At no cost and with little effort, we could always forward you that if they wish and save the work hours.

Please let me know if the request is agreed to and approved, so that we can assign and complete the work.

In reference to the other documents requested, they were previously provided to your colleague in 2012. Please refer to your website where they are posted.

Please advise if you would like to proceed with the Aviation Unit.

Thank you.

Alvaro Zabaleta, Detective
Miami-Dade Police Department
Office of the Director
Public Information & Education Bureau
Media Relations Section
9105 N.W. 25 Street, Suite 1060
Doral, Florida 33172-1500
Phone 305-471-1900
Fax 305-471-1904
az@mdpd.com
www.miamidade.gov
""Delivering Excellence Everyday"

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello,

Given the considerable delay, I do not consider MDPD's estimate of costs to be in good faith. Please clarify why fulfilling this request requires a sergeant paid more than $50 per hour to complete, particularly since a significant portion of the documents are available at no charge.

Without at all waiving my right to appeal this considerable delay, I agree to receive the indicated pre-prepared packet. Please provide an estimated date of delivery immediately upon receipt of this email.

-Shawn

From: Zabaleta, Alvaro A.

Hello Mr. Musgrave,

Attached are the readily available documents, which we have been widely distributed to requestors at no charge.

In regards to your concern stated on your previous email, the Aviation Unit provided the listed response:

"The specifics of Mr. Musgrave's request would require research and lengthy work as well as a high volume of copies. The person tasked with maintaining most all of the requested documents is a Sergeant and therefore his specific regular-duty hourly rate was quoted (excluding fringe).

Responses from our end have been as timely as possible and in good faith. Nevertheless, timeliness should not detract from the personnel man-hours that this request expends. As your entity is aware, we receive countless requests regarding our drone program and we regularly respond to the best of our capacity. We remain committed to being transparent with the details and intentions of our drone program, but the specifics of Mr. Musgrave's request entails extensive work on our end and it would detract the assigned sergeant from his chief responsibilities.

Please advise if you would like to proceed with your request. Mr. Musgrave agree upon the remaining research and charge."

Thank you,

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