Drone Documents (Pittsburgh Bureau of Police)
Tracking # |
2014-1-25 |
Submitted | Jan. 31, 2014 |
Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Shawn Musgrave
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, 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 look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Shawn Musgrave
From: Smith, Benjamin
February 4, 2014
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 7982
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
*RE: RTKL No. 2014-1-25*
Dear Mr. Musgrave:
On February 3, 2014, the City of Pittsburgh Open Records Office received
your written request for records pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know
Law (RTKL), 65 P.S. §67.101 *et seq*. Your specific request is copied at
the bottom of this letter.
The RTKL requires that the City provide an initial response within five
business days of the request, or in this case, on or before *February 10,
2014*. The RTKL permits the City to take up to an additional thirty (30)
days to provide a final response where the nature or extent of the request
precludes an answer within the original time period (e.g. documents are not
easily retrievable within 5 business days) and/or where legal review is
needed to determine whether the record is subject to access under the Act.
See 65 P.S. §§67.902(a)(4)(7).
The City is obligated to redact any non-public information from public
records pursuant to any exceptions set forth in the RTKL. See 65 P.S.
§67.706. Note that the City is not required to create records which do not
currently exist or maintain information in a form in which it does not
currently exist. See 65 P.S. §67.705. Additionally, nothing in the RTKL
shall be construed to modify, rescind or supersede any of the City's record
retention policies. See 65 P.S. §67.507.
Please expect our final answer *within thirty (30) days of* *February 10,
2014*. Thank you for your patience in this matter.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Smith,
Open Records Officer
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 Jan. 31, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2014-1-25.
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 Jan. 31, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2014-1-25.
Thank you for your help.
From: Smith, Benjamin
March 10, 2014
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 7982
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
*RE: RTKL No. 2014-1-25*
Dear Mr. Musgrave:
On February 3, 2014, the City of Pittsburgh Open Records Office received
your written request for records pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know
Law (RTKL), 65 P.S. §67.101 *et seq*. Your specific request is copied at
the bottom of this letter.
Upon investigation, I've determined that no such records exist and your
request is denied in its entirety. To the extent anything requested is not
being provided, the RTKL instructs that the City is not required to create
records which do not currently exist or maintain information in a form in
which it does not currently exist. See 65 P.S. §67.705. Additionally,
nothing in the RTKL shall be construed to modify, rescind or supersede any
of the City's record retention policies. See 65 P.S. §67.507.
If you feel that any aspect of this response to your request is in error,
you may lodge an appeal by writing to Terry Mutchler, Executive Director,
Office of Open Records, Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street,
4th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17120. If you wish to take an appeal you must do
so within fifteen business days of the date of this letter. (See 65 P.S.
§67.1101).
Sincerely,
Benjamin Smith
Open Records Officer
--
*Benjamin I. Smith*
*Assistant City Solicitor*
Department of Law
414 Grant Street
313 City-County Building
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 255-2014
(412) 255-2285 - fax
benjamin.smith@pittsburghpa.gov <natalie.mays@city.pittsburgh.pa.us>
This email transmission and any documents, files, or previous email
messages attached to it, are confidential and are protected by the
attorney-client privilege and/or work product doc trine. If you are not the
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