Websites showing how a city uses it's drone and protecting privacy

CP_Oregon · May 10, 2018

Hi,
I am the Emergency Manager for the City of Albany Oregon, and I am in the process of finalizing our city UAS policy and am hoping to have our licensed staff from all departments in the field doing a variety of things.

I wanted to put a "This is how the city uses it's UAS and how we protect your privacy" website up to hopefully reduce some of calls from people who may be concerned.

Has anyone seen any city with a similar page? (I have googled for a while now and came up nothing). I appreciate any help you all may have.

flockshot · May 10, 2018

I haven't seen one, but I applaud you for making one.

dansoto · May 10, 2018

Just found this one with a little creative Google searching --

Kent Police Department Drone Policy | City of Kent

dansoto · May 10, 2018

And this one ...

http://records.tukwilawa.gov/weblin...e Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS).pdf

CP_Oregon · May 10, 2018

Thanks! We'll get our web people on it. I was hoping for something a little friendlier than direct policy language. Good to see others are doing it (even if they are Washington links)

dansoto · May 10, 2018

More:
https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/Aviation Resources Documents/UAS-Report.pdf

dansoto · May 10, 2018

Meh .. just use this search query and modify it as needed but this is what I started with " site:gov drone police crime"
Basically, I'm only searching *.gov sites for specific words I'd expect to find. You might want to add "privacy" or other words you'd expect to see.

CP_Oregon · May 25, 2018

This is our first stab at a website. It will evolve over time. Thanks to all who contributed!

Use of Drones / UAS

flockshot · May 25, 2018

A step towards legitimacy of drones in the public eye.
And while I am here, I would like to ask a question. If a town that has no drone program, were offered the services, free of charge, from a single or group of local pilots, do you think that would be helpful to the town leaders, or would it just start a argument about liability, etc. ?

CP_Oregon · May 25, 2018

flockshot said:
A step towards legitimacy of drones in the public eye.
And while I am here, I would like to ask a question. If a town that has no drone program, were offered the services, free of charge, from a single or group of local pilots, do you think that would be helpful to the town leaders, or would it just start a argument about liability, etc. ?

(I am assuming you are in the US) I have worked for several different governments in my career. The answer is "It depends on the town". Some cities would not even consider it our of liability fears.

If a solid agreement or memorandum of understanding was drawn up outlying responsibilities, liabilities, insurance and all the other things. I think that a forward-thinking city would see the value. You may also want to look at embedding yourselves with an existing volunteer group that already has a relationship with the town (in the emergency management world we have CERT and Search and Rescue groups).