Fire district gets green light to buy a drone

"The biggest issue seems to surround law enforcement using (the drone) for surveillance," he said. "We're just not going to (let it be used for) that except under extreme circumstances. ... People don't want people spying on them and that's not what we do."

Will all non-fire scene footage be immediately erased?

And what might those extreme circumstances be?

Now if we can only get the drone to toilet paper bomb Virginia's house and perhaps knock down a few campaign lawn signs the expenditure will be well worth it.

The use of drones in fire fighting operations is perfectly legit in my mind. But of course, the devils is in the details.

The MPFD needs to carefully craft its policy to consider items such as:
- with whom can the video be shared? Law enforcement? Insurance companies? Media outlets?
- how long will it be archived? Who will have access to the archive?
- where (physically) will the data be stored and how secure is the location from outsiders?
- what safeguards will be put in place to prevent hackers from accessing the information?
- will the drone be used for other fire activities besides fire response, such as code enforcement or medical calls?
- are their liability issues if the drone should fail and fall, or accidentally be flow into property or a person.
- what are the ongoing maintenance and training costs?

I'm not against the lawful and thoughtful use of drones by MPFD by any means. I just put these questions out there as talking points.

steve taffee

We are planning for this drone ($1200) for the Coastside to see over cliffs for cliff rescues.

Here is a great example of the value of a real time overhead perspective in an emergency management situation:

Web Link

I doubt anybody complained about this.

These drones as pictured are very helpful. People really need to see the photos and prices to fully appreciate these purchases. It kind of reminds me of the time in 2002 when we bought a thermal imaging camera. Once it was demonstrated people appreciated their usefulness.
Ginny McShane, Director
Coastside Fire Protection District

Based on public input and discussion at the Board meeting the Fire District has prepared an IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM (UAS). Here is a key paragraph:

"A critical element to the operational procedures is the justification for flight requirements. The District’s Duty Chief, Operations Division Chief, or Training Chief must approve all flights. This applies to emergency missions, training, and demonstration flights. The justification for flight must be articulated by the pilot-in-command and supported by a visual observer. The justification must include a “geographically confined, time-limited” area of flight to support an emergency mission where public safety is as risk due to the current emergency situation.
Once approved for flight, the operational procedure must incorporate:
• A flight log that captures the UAS unique flight time meter reading
• Documentation of approving Chief, and name of the pilot-in-command and visual observer.
• Down load and storage of all photos and videos in a secure location.
The operational procedure must incorporate specific policy direction on image retention. Unless the images or video are part of an on-going incident critic or training, all images/videos must not be retained. Any images/videos that are retained are public record and must be made available when requested according to California Public Information Act requests.
Element of public notice is key to the Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft, issued by the American Civil Liberties Union."

So many positive reasons to have drones for the Fire District.

Great way for the camel to get his nose under the tent.

Camel's nose: Web Link

Jetman - You always deal with innuendo and never in facts - WHY?

In May 2006 Mark Klein is a former AT&T technician in San Francisco, leaked knowledge of his company's cooperation with the United States National Security Agency in installing network hardware to monitor, capture, and process American telecommunications.

Klein revealed that AT&T allowed the NSA to construct and equip a secret room in a San Francisco AT&T switching center, with data-mining equipment that forwarded internet traffic to the NSA. Klein said the equipment used to capture 100% of the internet traffic passing through the San Francisco hub was manufactured by an Israeli company, named Narus Inc. In 2010, Narus became a subsidiary of Boeing, located in Sunnyvale, CA.


Boeing Acquires Narus Inc: Web Link

"Surveillance firm Insitu sells to Boeing for reported $400M"
Venture Beat ~ July 23, 2008 Web Link

"NSA Leak Vindicates AT&T Whistleblower (Mark Klein)"
Wired ~ June 27, 2013 Web Link

Jetman - Do you have anything to say that is relevant to this topic?

Jetman:

what does any of that have to do with the fire department's purchase of a drone?