The Marin County Sheriff's Office is getting ready to launch a new "unmanned aerial systems" program.
Sheriff's Capt. David Augustus steered away from using the word "drone" when talking about the program, set to begin in 60 to 90 days.
"I don't like that word," Augustus said. "Drones have an inference of military surveillance or weaponry. That's not what these are."
The program is still in its early stages, and the department has not yet determined how many drones it will buy.
"We're still in the exploratory stage of that," Augustus said. "We're looking at two to three, maybe up to four." He said they would not be used for surveillance.
The sheriff's department has trained four pilots to fly the vehicles, and the department expects to spend $20,000 to $25,000 on the program initially.
One critic, Sausalito resident Frank Shinneman, noted, "The sheriff's policy does not provide protection against public surveillance, it does not contain reporting on use, nor does it limit the sharing of the video surveillance with other authorities including NCRIC (Northern California Regional Intelligence Center), DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and other agencies such as ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)." Shinneman asked the Board of Supervisors to "halt any future drone acquisition plans until there is a public forum justifying the need, and implementing a limited-use policy which provides privacy protections from these surveillance systems."
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has sponsored a bill, SB 1186, that would require law enforcement agencies to have a surveillance use policy, approved by their governing bodies, in place before the use of surveillance technology. The bill defines surveillance technology as "any electronic device or system with the capacity to monitor and collect audio, visual, locational, thermal, or similar information on any individual or group."
This would include drones with cameras, automated license plate recognition systems and body-worn cameras.
The department's written policy lists the following "authorized missions" for the program: post-incident crime scene preservation and documentation; explosive ordnance disposal; response to hazardous material spills; search and rescue missions; public safety and life preservation missions, such as hostage situations or violent fleeing suspects; disaster response and documentation; training missions; fire response and prevention; and pursuant to a search warrant. Augustus said it was the department's all-volunteer, search and rescue team that was the biggest advocate for the program.
In 2013, privacy advocates raised a stir when Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern sought permission from Alameda County supervisors to use a federal Homeland Security grant and county taxpayer money to become the first California law enforcement agency to acquire a drone. Ahern withdrew the request, but in December 2014 he dipped into his own budget to purchase two drones for $97,000.
Today, police and fire departments in more than 50 California cities and counties use drones, including the sheriff's offices in Contra Costa, Kern and El Dorado counties.
(c)2018 The Marin Independent Journal. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
