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Council Memorandum
Sept. 20, 2019
To:
From:
Via:
Honorable Mayor Hall
Mickey Williams, Assistan
Neil Gallucci, Police Chief
Scott Chadwick, City Man e
Subject: City of Carlsbad's Use of D
embers of the City Council
· e Chief
{city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID# 2019106
The city recently received an inquiry about the Police Department's use of unmanned aerial
systems, commonly known as drones. This memorandum provides an overview of how our city
uses these vehicles in police and emergency operations.
Discussion
These unmanned vehicles provide officers and emergency crews with real-time video images
from the air, giving them a vantage point they cannot get from the ground.
The Police Department uses 11 unmanned aerial vehicles in 5 categories. Some have regular
cameras and are used for such incidents as searching for a missing person. They can fly overhead
at a high vantage point. The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team uses a palm-sized vehicle
to navigate and clear buildings on SWAT missions. The Homeless Outreach Team uses a compact,
portable vehicle that is easier to deploy and can view brushy areas from above. A newer vehicle
can carry both a zoom camera and an infrared camera. One of the newest has a loudspeaker,
light and infrared attachment.
The ·reason for two or more of each is for redundancy. This creates spare parts and the capability
to fly with a regular camera and an infrared camera simultaneously. Also, with technology
advancing so rapidly, many of the capabilities of the new vehicles were just not possible when
the original vehicles were purchased.
In March, officers looking for a suspect in a fatal stabbing used one of the vehicles to search
dense brush areas from above. An aerial vehicle was used to look for a shark after a report of a
sighting at a local beach.
The Police Department began using the technology in October 2017. Initially, the systems were
used only by the department's SWAT team. Police officials have since found the aerial vehicles to
be extremely useful tools in many other areas of law enforcement and emergency services.
Carlsbad Police Department
Carlsbad Safety Center I 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 760-931-2197
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
Sept. 20, 2019
Page 2
Unmanned aerial systems have been used by the Police Department for numerous reasons.
Among the uses are:
• Searching for missing persons
• Searching for a suspect who ran from officers after a vehicle pursuit
• Giving officers the ability to see a suicidal man barricaded on a roof
• Taking forensic photos for investigations into homicides, assaults, arson fires and other
crimes
• Capturing the positions of vehicles after auto accidents
• Enabling the SWAT team to make sure a building is clear ofthreats without jeopardizing
the safety of officers
• Providing an eye in the sky to officers monitoring and performing crowd control at special
events such as street fairs, marathons and rallies
Without these unmanned vehicles, city polic_e officials would have to call for aerial assistance
from the helicopter and crews operated by the county Sheriff's Department, a service limited by
other demands on that aircraft, weather conditions and other factors.
The Police Department has spent about $48,000 to acquire and operate these unmanned aerial
systems.
The Police Department's policy on the use of unmanned aerial systems allows only properly
trained and authorized drone pilots to fly them and prohibits their use for random surveillance.
All pilots are Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified and meet the FAA requirements to
legally fly unmanned aerial vehicles.
The policy also allows the use of thermal imaging and other vision enhancement technology not
available to the public only when there is no potential invasion of privacy or in carrying out a
search warrant or court order. Police officials consult the city attorney for legal advice in all other
instances.
Video images captured by the city's unmanned aircraft may be released to the public only in
response to properly completed written requests and with the authorization of the police chief
or his or her designee.
Attachment: A. Unmanned Aerial System Policy
cc: Celia Brewer, City Attorney
Elaine Lu key, Chief Operations Officer
Kristina Ray, Communications Manager
Carlsbad Police Department
Carlsbad Safety Center I 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 760-931-2197
Attachment A
Carlsbad Police Department Policies on Operations of Unmanned Aerial Systems
345.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for the use of an unmanned aerial system
(UAS) and for the storage, retrieval and dissemination of images and data captured by the UAS.
345.2 DEFINITION
Definitions related to this policy include:
Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) -An unmanned aircraft of any type that is capable of sustaining
directed flight, whether preprogrammed or remotely controlled ( commonly referred to as an
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)), and all of the supporting or attached systems designed for
gathering information through imaging, recording or any other means.
345.3 POLICY
Unmanned aerial systems may be utilized to enhance the department's mission of protecting
lives and property when other means and resources are not available or are less effective. Any
use of a UAS will be in strict accordance with constitutional and privacy rights and Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.
345.4 PRIVACY
The use of the UAS potentially involves privacy considerations. Absent a warrant or exigent
circumstances, operators and observers shall.adhere to FAA altitude regulations and shall not
intentionally record or transmit images of any location where a person would have a reasonable
expectation of privacy ( e.g., residence, yard, enclosure). Operators and observers shall take
reasonable precautions to avoid inadvertently recording or transmitting images of areas where
there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Reasonable precautions can include, for example,
deactivating or turning imaging devices away from such areas or persons during UAS operations.
345.5 PROGRAM COORDINATOR
The Chief of Police will appoint a program coordinator who will be responsible for the
management of the UAS prqgram. The program coordinator will ensure that policies and
procedures conform to current laws, regulations and best practices and will have the following
additional responsibilities: ·
a. Verifying all FAA requirements are met.
b. Ensuring that all authorized operators and required observers have completed all required
FAA and department-approved training in the operation, applicable laws, policies, and
procedures regarding use of the UAS.
Attachment A
c. Developing uniform protocol for submission and evaluation of requests to deploy a
UAS, including urgent requests made during ongoing or emerging incidents.
d. Deployment of a UAS may require review by the program coordinator or the authorized
designee, depending on the type of mission.
e. Developing protocol for conducting criminal investigations involving a UAS, including
documentation of time spent monitoring a subject.
f. Developing an operational protocol governing the deployment and operation of a UAS
including, but not limited to, safety oversight, use of visual observers, establishment of
lost link procedures and secure communication with air traffic control facilities.
g. Developing a protocol for fully documenting all missions.
h. Developing a UAS inspection, maintenance and record-keeping protocol to ensure
continuing airworthiness of a UAS, up to and including its overhaul or life limits.
1. Developing protocols to ensure that all data intended to be used as evidence are
accessed, maintained, stored and retrieved in a manner that ensures its integrity as
evidence, including strict adherence to chain of custody requirements. Electron
trails, including encryption, authenticity certificates and date and time stamping, shall be
used as appropriate to preserve individual rights and to ensure the authenticity and
maintenance of a secure evidentiary chain of custody.
J. Developing protocols that ensure retention and purge periods are maintained in
accordance with established records retention schedules.
k. Facilitating law enforcement access to images and date captured by the UAS.
1. Recommending program enhancements, particularly regarding safety and information
security.
m. Ensuring that established protocols are followed by monitoring and providing periodic
reports on the program to the Chief of Police.
345.6 USE OF UAS
a. Only authorized operators who have completed the required training shall be permitted to
operate the UAS.
b. Use of vision enhancement technology (e.g., thermal and other imaging equipment not
generally available to the public) is permissible in viewing areas only where there is no
protectable privacy interest or when in compliance with a search warrant or court order.
In all other instances, legal counsel should be consulted.
c. UAS operations should only be conducted in accordance with FAA regulations.
d. UAS deployment will be considered when an aerial view would assist officers or
incident commanders during the following:
1. Accident investigations
2. Missing person
3. Search and rescue operations
4. Drug investigations
5. Fires
6. Disaster management
7. Crowd control
8. Explosive ordinance disposal/bomb threats
Attachment A
9. CRBNE incidents (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive)
10. Crime scene
11. Supporting criminal investigations
12. VIP security support
13. Perimeter searches and security
14. Enhanced situational awareness
15. UAS demonstrations
345.7 PROIDBITED USE
The UAS video surveillance equipment shall not be used:
a. To conduct random surveillance activities.
b. To target a person based solely on individual characteristics, such as, but not limited to
race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
345.8 MEDIA STORAGE
All media will be stored in a secured area with access restricted to authorized
persons. Recordings not otherwise needed for official reasons shall be retained for a period of
not less than one year and thereafter should be erased with the written consent of the City
Attorney. Any recordings needed as evidence in a criminal or civil proceeding shall be copied to
a suitable medium and booked into evidence in accordance with current evidence procedures
(Government Code 34090.6).
345.9 REVIEW OR RELEASE OF VIDEO IMAGES
The review or the release of video images shall be done only with the authorization of the Chief
of Police or his/her designee and only with the properly completed written request. Video
images needed for a criminal investigation or other official reason shall be collected and booked
in accordance with current departmental evidence procedures.
345.9.1 PUBLIC OR OTHER AGENCY REQUEST
Requests for recorded video images from other government agencies or by the submission of a
court order or subpoena shall be promptly submitted to the Records Manager, who will promptly
research the request and submit the results of such search through the Chief of Police to the City
Attorney's office for further handling. Every reasonable effort should be made to preserve the
data requested until the request has been fully processed by the City Attorney's office. Video
images captured by UAS cameras that are requested by the public or media will be made
available only to the extent required by law. Except as required by a valid court order or other
lawful process, video images requested under the Public Records Act will generally not be
disclosed to the public when such video images are evidence in an ongoing criminal
investigation in which a disposition has not been reached.