Santa Clara County considers the use of UAS by County Departments to be a form of surveillance according to Division A40: the Surveillance Technology and Community Safety Ordinance. This means departments that wish to acquire UAS must first develop policies that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) approve. The BOS must determine that the "benefits to the impacted County department(s) and the community of the surveillance technology outweigh the costs including both the financial costs and reasonable concerns about the impact on and safeguards for privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights."
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as “drones”, offer several benefits to the County:
- Overhead observations for law enforcement (Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office) in support of investigations, real-time intel for pursuits of dangerous suspects, evidence mapping, and missing persons searches.
- Insecticide spraying in difficult to reach areas (for the mosquito abatement in support of public health).
- View land for planning (land-use planning, natural resource management)
- Cost Efficiency - UAS can often be operated at a fraction of the cost compared to helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, or the cost of on the ground personnel.
