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ORWELL INDEX

Who flies surveillance drones in Montgomery County?

What we do not know

Constable Precinct 1 and Constable Precinct 4

  • What the Drone First Responder program with the San Jacinto River Authority actually does, and who flies.
  • How many aircraft the Sheriff's Office, the five constable precincts and the Fire Marshal operate between them.
  • Whether any of them records video on routine flights, and how long that footage is kept.
  • Whether any Montgomery County agency has a written drone policy.
  • What a donor gets, if anything, for buying a public agency an aircraft.

What drones are

An unmanned aircraft carrying a camera, flown by a public agency. Where a state classes drones as military equipment, as California does, a public policy and a governing-body vote are required before an agency uses one.

How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →

What you can do

Civic action

Show up

This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Montgomery County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Montgomery County →

Personal protection

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense ↗