Polk County, FL Sheriff Drone Documents

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:

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

2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on department 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 department’s use 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.

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

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Ms. Eleazer:

Thank you for speaking with me earlier. Please find my records request below.

Let me know if I can clarify anything.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

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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:

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

2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on department 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 department’s use 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.

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

Dear Shawn:

I am in the process of collecting whatever documents we have on the UAS we
have here at PCSO. I appreciate your ongoing patience. I will let you
know as soon as I have everything gathered to send to you.

Thank you,
Carrie Eleazer

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 16, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Pursuant to your request, please see the following information:

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office currently has a quad rotor UAS (unmanned
aircraft system), weighing about 2 lbs. The specifications can be found
here: http://ardrone2.parrot.com/ardrone-2/specifications/. The UAS was
built in-house based on the commercially available Parrot AR Drone frame
and cost approximately $500.

Information about its capabilities are publicly available on the
manufacturer’s website. A user manual for the Parrot AR Drone model we use
can be found here:
http://ardrone2.parrot.com/media/uploads/support_ardrone_1/ar.drone_user-guide_uk.pdf

The intent of this aircraft is to fly it during special operations missions
(SWAT team deployments—barricaded subjects, active shooters, etc.), once we
have completed the writing of an agency directive dictating its use. The
agency directive is still in the process of being written. We are
experimenting with the UAS to determine its best use.

At this time, it is only used indoors with other ground robots during
exigent circumstances.

We will comply with all existing or future public records laws and state
records retention requirements regarding the UAS, including any public
records generated from its use.

Our UAS has limited capabilities and is equipped with one color camera.
Operators can expect approximately 15 minutes of flight time per battery.
On-board electronics are set to stop the rotors from spinning when they
contact something. Rotors are shrouded with Styrofoam in order to protect
items which may come in contact with the spinning rotors. A loss-of-link
would result in the aircraft hovering until link is regained.

I hope this answers all of the questions that you have.

Thank you,

*Carrie S. Eleazer*, BSCJ, CPM

Public Information Officer

Polk County Sheriff’s Office

Office: 863.298.6217 <#>

Cell: 863.255.8448 <#>

Fax: 863.298.6262 <#>

carrie@polksheriff.org