City and county to team up on sUAS

The San Marcos Police Department will be purchasing four new drones and entering a cooperative agreement with the county involving their use. 

Council adopted a resolution approving an interlocal cooperation agreement between the city and Hays County Tuesday that establishes the Hays County Unmanned Robotics Team. San Marcos Police Chief Chase Stapp explained that the county has a certificate of authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration for the use of drones for civil purposes. The agreement between the city and the county would allow the city to share the benefits of that certificate. Drones can be used in search missions, to document crime or accident scenes and in other emergency responses. 

In his presentation to the council, Stapp assured them that the drones would not be used to invade people’s privacy.

“The protections of people’s constitutional rights is paramount to us,” he said. 

Stapp noted that the city has a 27-page drone policy that addresses pilot training, data management and privacy concerns, among other topics.

“Generally the thing in that list that is most important to the public and boards and commissions such as yourselves is the privacy concerns,” he said.

He noted that the policy states that all flights are required to obtain supervisory approval, pilots can reject a flight if they do not believe it supports the mission, and flights are only allowed for the support of authorized investigations, crisis response support or training. Search warrants are required for flights to collect evidence, he said. 

The city’s drone policy states, in part: ““The deployment of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) by the San Marcos Police Department is expected to assist as a force multiplier, providing increased situational awareness, improve cost-operating efficiency, and enhanced officer and public safety. Deployments of this technology will be in direct support of critical incidents, crime scene and vehicular accident forensics collection, tactical operations, officer training, direct or indirect Fire Department assistance, disaster response and any other mission requiring aerial overview within a Defined Incident Perimeter (DIP). ...

“As with all investigative methods, the sUAS must be operated consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Accordingly, all San Marcos Police Department (T) program personnel shall abide by the Fourth Amendment and protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. The sUAS shall never be used solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of other rights secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States except as necessary to protect people who are exercising their constitutional rights.”

Council member Joca Marquez expressed concern about whether other municipalities in the county would contribute to the partnership. Stapp said that it would depend on whether the other cities’ governing bodies and law enforcement organizations opted to, but he hopes that at least Buda and Kyle will join up.

“That’s subject to their funding capabilities and things like that,” Stapp said.

“That’s my only concern — that San Marcos taxpayers would be footing the bill for other cities to use it,” she said.

Stapp said that in theory, pilots from San Marcos could be called to other cities to assist if needed. 

Council member Lisa Prewitt said that the privacy issues had been a concern for her.

“As technology continues to improve, privacy continues to become a bit compromised,” she said.

Council member Mark Rockeymoore asked what would happen if a crime was being committed while the drones are in flight.

“The policy allows for what is called emergent deviation for that,” Stapp said, in case the drones need to change from their previously approved course. He added that city policy provides for disciplinary action if an employee abuses the emergent deviation. 

Council adopted the resolution with one amendment made by Mayor Jane Hughson stating that although press releases about the Unmanned Robotics Team and its activities will generally come through the county’s public information office, press releases on operations occurring within the city of San Marcos will be handled jointly by the city and county public information offices. 

In conjunction with the creation of the Hays County Unmanned Robotics Team, council approved an expenditure from state seized asset funds for the purchase of four drones. 

“Approximately three years ago, the police department acquired a very basic drone for the purpose of assisting our collision investigation team with the documentation of fatal and serious injury crashes,” the council’s agenda states. “Since that time, the use of drones by municipal entities including police departments has become more commonplace, and we have seen how this technology can help us deliver a higher level of service to the community without incurring the costs of a true aircraft division.“

The expenditure of up to $65,000 will allow the city to purchase four drones, miscellaneous spare parts, a toolkit and other supporting equipment, and state-of-the-art cameras.