Dear Judge Margines: The City of Lake Forest reviewed the Orange County Grand Jury Report entitled,*

Published: July 25, 2016 5 pages

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⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings and Recommendations 7 findings

Recreational drones have greatly increased in number since December 2015 and it is probable their unregulated use will pose significant threats to public safety and privacy in Orange County cities and unincorporated areas. Response: Based on the information provided, the City of Lake Forest disagrees with this finding. As stated on of the report, the Grand Jury "restricted examination of the topic of drones to the expanding recreational/hobbyist market consequences for Orange County's emergency responders." and its Accordingly, the City cannot independently verify the significance of threats to privacy, as sufficient information regarding this specific topic has not yet been presented.

Related Recommendations (1)

Each City Council should direct its City Attorney to provide a report to the City's police department and City Council on existing laws that can be applied to the use of recreational drones in the city's jurisdiction by December 30, 2016. Response: The City of Lake Forest will not implement this recommendation because it is not warranted. The City contracts with the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) for law enforcement services. The City understands that the OCSD is aware of all existing laws that can be applied to the use of recreational drones. Further, County Counsel, as opposed to the City of Lake Forest City Attorney's office, advises OCSD on such matters. Consequently, in the instance of Lake Forest, the County is the appropriate party to provide and coordinate such information.

With the exception of the recent Federal Aviation Administration registration rule, recreational drone owners are largely self-policed, which leads to a wide range of behavior. RUG USE www.lakeforestca.gov 25550 Commercentre Dr., Suite 100 Lake Forest, Remember the Past ~ Challenge the Future Lake Forest, CA 92630 Printed on Recycled Paper. (949) 461-3400 City Hall Fax: (949) 461-3511 Hon. Charles Margines July 25, 2016 Response: Based on the information presented in this report, the City generally agrees with this finding.

Related Recommendations (1)

Each City should adopt a recreational drone ownership and operation ordinance, with regulations similar to those found in Los Angeles City ordinance #183912, by March 31, 2017, to the extent not preempted or superseded by Federal law or Federal Regulations. Response: The City of Lake Forest will not implement this recommendation because it is not warranted. The City believes that regulation of drones should be left to, or directed by, aviation experts. We believe that pending proposed State legislation as well as the proposed FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 cited in the Grand Jury report would more effectively address drone ownership and operation and provide a more uniform set of rules. Additionally, the regulations recommended by the Grand Jury report do not address the most frequent concerns reported to the City and its law enforcement personnel, which is privacy. Finally, OCSD has adopted current best practices in the enforcement of existing laws that can be applied to the use of recreational drones in the City's jurisdiction. Hon. Charles Margines July 25, 2016

Most of the cities and unincorporated areas of the County of Orange do not have a drone ordinance, nor do they have any immediate plans to enact an ordinance in the near future. Response: Based on the information presented in this report, the City agrees with this finding.

Related Recommendations (1)

Each City should inform its citizens about laws and ordinances that apply to recreational drone operators through print media, city-related websites, social media sites and/or public forums by March 31, 2017. Response: As indicated in the City's response to recommendation R5, the City will implement this recommendation by December 30, 2016, by publishing at least one e-news article and at least one website posting recommending that drone owners and operators review the recommendations posted by the FAA on www.knowbeforeyoufly.org.

Most of the cities provide no educational programs for public awareness of the safety issues connected to recreational drones. Response: Based on the survey data presented in this report, the City agrees with this finding.

Related Recommendations (1)

Each City should establish and publish on its website a point of contact for drone-related citizen complaints by December 30, 2016. Response: The City of Lake Forest will implement this recommendation. The City of Lake Forest contracts with OCSD for law enforcement services. OCSD has assembled and trained a group of deputies capable of responding in the field to handle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV" or "drone") complaints. This group has been established as a specific UAV Unit. Accordingly, the City will establish the OCSD as the single point of contact for drone incidents. OCSD contact information will be available on the City's website. Residents can reach the UAV Unit by calling dispatch at (949) 660-7011 for non-emergency and 911 for emergencies.

Some Orange County cities, despite recognizing potential issues with drones, are awaiting drone-related legislative action or other guidance by the State of California or FAA before enacting local ordinances. Response: Based on the information provided, the City disagrees with this The data provided in the report appears to be aggregated. finding. Consequently, the City cannot independently verity this information to determine whether the same cities recognized potential issues with drones and provided responses indicating that they are awaiting drone-related legislation or guidance from the State of California or FAA.

Related Recommendations (1)

Each City should post FAA drone ownership and operation educational links on city-related websites, newsletters, and flyers by December 30, 2016. Response: The City of Lake Forest will implement this recommendation by December 30, 2016 by publishing at least one e-news article and at least one website posting recommending that drone owners and operators review the recommendations posted by the FAA on www.knowbeforeyoufly.org

The FAA-required registration of recreational drones provides a useful tool for local enforcement of drone ordinances. The City disagrees with this finding. The report does not Response: demonstrate how the FAA-required registration provides a useful tool for local enforcement of drone ordinances. As stated in the report, the "registration requirement is a powerful tool for identifying owners of drones." However, it is not entirely clear how the identification of drone owners would assist with enforcing rules or imposing penalties. This would require further monitoring and enforcement by local authorities.

No recommendations for this finding

Orange County cities have not established a procedure for reporting drone incidents, which results in under-reporting of drone safety and privacy events. Hon. Charles Margines July 25, 2016 Response: Based on the information provided, the City disagrees with this finding. According to the research provided in the report, most Orange County cities do not have a procedure for reporting drone incidents. The only discussion of under-reporting in the report is expressed in terms of the opinion of the OCSD Bomb Squad on . In addition, the data provided in the report appears to be aggregated. Consequently, the City cannot independently verify the findings presented. Accordingly, the City respectfully disagrees with this part of the finding based on a lack of specific data.

No recommendations for this finding

Additional Recommendations 1

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

R9

The County and each City should formally gather data on recreational drone incidents within their jurisdictions and review these data annually and report results publicly. The first analysis and publications should occur within 1 year of the publication of this report. Response: The City of Lake Forest has partially implemented this The City of Lake Forest contracts with OCSD for law recommendation. enforcement services. As noted previously regarding recommendation R4, the OCSD has assembled and trained a specific UAV Unit. The UAV unit collects and analyzes data regarding recreational drone incidents. The City of Lake Forest will not implement the portion of this recommendation that requires it to Hon. Charles Margines July 25, 2016 review and report the results annually. However, should the OCSD collect, analyze, and/or publish the data the City would support that effort. Should you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact Carlo Tomaino, Assistant to the City Manager, at 949-461-3537 or via e- mail at ctomaino@lakeforestca.gov Respectfully, Andrew Hamilton Mayor Cc:

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.