Manage updates with the Download App
August 9, 2007 1:36 PM PDT
Police agencies push for drone sky patrols
- Related Stories
-
Drone aircraft will be smarter, more social
May 9, 2007 -
Drone aircraft may prowl U.S. skies
March 29, 2006 - Related Blogs
-
More aerial drones coming soon to U.S. borders
August 8, 2007 -
U.S. military expands robot patrols in combat zones
August 8, 2007 -
Singapore military officials embrace drone aircraft
August 7, 2007
(continued from previous page)
The civilian piloting community would like to see the FAA do even more to rein in UAV use, citing grave concerns about the potential for dangerous collisions.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has been lobbying for UAVs to be held to the same rules as manned aircraft. The group is also leading a committee under the umbrella of the RTCA, an international aviation standards body, to devise uniform industry guidelines that would likely steer the FAA's own deliberations about new regulations.
UAVs "should be safetly integrated into the national airspace system with other users, and what that means is having some 'see and avoid capability' to detect other aircraft and the ability to communicate with air traffic control stations," AOPA spokeswoman Kathleen Vasconcelos said in a phone interview.
Pilots undergo extensive training on collision detection and avoidance. Planes that fly at night are required to have certain types of lights, for instance. Operating an aircraft near busy airports (in government parlance, "Class B" airports) requires a transponder that broadcasts its altitude. And during all flights that take place in poor weather or higher than 18,000 feet above sea level, the pilot must be in radio contact with controllers.
Last summer, AOPA reported the Gaston County, N.C. police department to federal authorities when it discovered that the officials were flying a small UAV for surveillance purposes without a certificate, which prompted the FAA to prohibit its use.
Privacy advocates have also raised alarms about the idea of new digital eyes patrolling the skies. The Electronic Privacy Information Center's Melissa Ngo, who has written about the privacy implications of increased government use of UAVs, said it's important to sort out a number of questions about the potential for their misuse and abuse.
For instance, authorities tout UAVs as being far quieter than their manned counterparts, which some authorities view as the answer to residents' complaints about helicopter noise levels. But the presence of virtually silent and increasingly smaller machines raises obvious privacy concerns.
"Have state and local police departments spoken to city councils or the public at large about the use of UAVs to watch the general public in everyday activities?" she said in an e-mail interview. "Civilian use of UAVs by state and local police would create a world of constant, unseen surveillance."
Local officials aren't necessarily looking for unfettered UAV-driving rights, Shinnamon said. Ideally, the FAA will be able to work with state and local government officials to come up with UAV-specific regulations, which address things like how high the drones can fly, how far they can travel from their operator, and whether they need to be in the driver's line of sight.
"Once we overcome this regulatory issue, I honestly think the use of this technology will explode at the local government level because it offers just so many benefits to us and the ability to serve our citizens," Shinnamon said.
Heal, whose office tested a drone last year but has not yet secured formal permission to use it, said he doesn't "detect any sense of urgency" on the FAA's part to make its regulations simpler for local officials to follow.
"We're going to do this; this is coming," he said. "And (the FAA) can jump on this train or they can run along behind it, but it is going to leave without them."
CNET News.com's Declan McCullagh contributed to this story.
See more CNET content tagged:
aircraft, airplane, helicopter, agency, rule
32 comments
Join the conversation! Add your comment
me, of competing agencies' drones running into each other, and
into news choppers too, for that matter.
It does make sense that UAVs with the same technology and
capabilities as hobby RC airplanes should be treated the same. But
they are not allowed to be flown just anywhere, either.
Does anybody remember the truth?
Surely this will be done really soon and then we'll all get our rights back.
BTW - Television has some wonderfully distracting programming so you don't have to contemplate reality or organize thinking people to fix the real problems.
The people guiding those drones better pass a physical, and go through hours and hours of training like pilots do.
Those agency's should also clean up the drones that crash into the ocean.
And every recruit of those agencies need to go through some strict security clearance in hope of stopping any conspiracy to crash those missiles - I mean drones - into civilian targets.
Someone should investigate the kickbacks these insane proponents are getting from the corporations making these drones.
Example-
"Say there is swimmers caught in a riptide, and county officials want to send help. It would cost anywhere from $450 to $1,200 per hour for L.A."
[http://These guys are already getting paid to do a job that is "seasonal" in nature. You'll still need a pilot and an observer on the ground.|http://These guys are already getting paid to do a job that is "seasonal" in nature. You'll still need a pilot and an observer on the ground.]
(LA) County Sheriff's Office Commander Charles "Sid" Heal to send one of its helicopters, but a UAV would cost "cents on the dollar," he said. "And if it crashes, it goes into the ocean and floats away."
How much does a flight base station cost? How much does training cost? What are the Operations and Maintenance costs? Is there going to be a "magic rubber-raft" or robotic lifeguard "pop-out" of the UAV when the swimmer is located? Why do you think DOD has multi-BILLION dollar budgets and Los Angeles County is barely keeping its Trauma Center System afloat? What's next? How about Zodiac boats or using other resources such as the LA County Lifeguard detail or US Coast Guard? The "floats-away" theory went out the door with the "junk never lands on our beaches" thought process. That why untreated sewage makes its way into the ocean off of Los Angeles after a moderate rainfall.
Sid, get in a car or a helo and leave the UAV's to the military. BTW, I would be really nervous about flying over the Los Angeles Basin, with pilot-less aircraft in the area and I am sure other pilots share the same concern.
The idiot cop Charles "Sid" Heal who justified an unlicensed UAV fleet saying "if it crashes, it goes into the ocean and floats away" should be removed from office and reeducated. Such reckless social irresponsibility should be rewarded with hard prison time .
1. I think we can all agree that it takes two or more entities for there to be communication.
2. This bill addresses surveillance of foreign (outside the U.S.) TARGETS.
3. The ONLY way the surveillance can include someone inside the U.S. is if they are communicating (incoming or outgoing) with a foreign target.
4. If the TARGET is inside the U.S., a warrant is required.
5. Oversight by the Judiciary and Congress is written into the bill.
The next time you and your friends drive to Mexico for the bullfights, on your return trip be sure to tell the custom officials you are an American citizen protected by the Fourth Ammendent and they can't search you, your friends, your car, your luggage, or your body cavaties.
Any questions? Don't ask me, look it up!
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:3:./temp/~c110vf4FaQ::" target="_newWindow">http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:3:./temp/~c110vf4FaQ::</a>
You don't have to answer right now, feel free to wait until a minor
clerical mixup puts you into Gitmo for the rest of your life without
charges, access to lawyers or any human rights whatsoever.
you can be followed/tracked. your phone can be tapped,your internet can be infected with spyware and keyloggers,your car locked or not parked on your property can be searched at night for hair samples and other dna. your trash can be searched. property access is why you aren't allowed to pull a gun on tresspassers. ....and yes they can stand outside your windows and peek in between the blinds all w/o ever aquiring any permissions. the patriot act even allows them to go into your home while you're not there.
Don't think they're above going to your place of employment under the guise of official police business and interfering with your job either.
these are scary times and if you're lucky enough to live in Copland as I am, you can learn firsthand what cops can get away with when you cut a cop's wife's rosebush back to far across the fence dividing your homes.
It may not bother those who are so clean they squeak but, with access like this you could build a drug case against the Pope.
As already demonstrated these drones will be abused. There's recorded abuse for every toy the police get their fascist totalitaian control hands on.
These drones were designed for one use. That is to locate the enemy for the kill. We will be on TV 24/7 so the DEA can stop some cancer patient from some homegrown relief or maybe to make sure you're paying tax on that addition to your home or not illegally burning,no junk cars in your yard, unlicensed pets, a backyard ethanol plant....well ou get the idea. They may even be able to see if you have any Canadian pharmaceuticals in your medicine cabinet while they're enjoying your naked wife.
The police have cadaver,drug,bomb sniffing K-9 coercers,cameras and rotating surveillance vehicles in the streets. They can require identiication and on the spot visible DNA sampling as ruled by the supreme court. Helicopters and infrared vision in the sky. A tap for every form of communication and a plethora of other Constitution circumventing practices and technologies. Last but, not least a Congress and President seemingly willing to change most any law that they cannot abide by...... What else do they need to keep us inline?
Without the MOST STRINGENT "rules of engagement" for these UAV's and THE MOST STRINGENT OVERSIGHT and PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY it will only chase the criminals into other activity and geographical areas, NOT deter them! Much the same way the Brady Bill did not stop the sale of illegal firearms to criminals!!! At the same time what happens is you end up only observing, for the MOST part, legal, lawabiding Citizens, that you have NO Constitutional right to be 'observing' in the first place.
By the way, anyone can get a "model airplane" online for $400.00 that comes with a black & white camera that will transmit to a laptop up to about a half a mile away....
If our Consitutional "...right to be left alone..." is not STRICTLY enforced, you, our "protectors" will be advancing the movement AGAINST more "legal" public surveillance, and hence the tension against it, and it WILL create more problems than than you will EVER solve! Much in the same way that we have created MORE 'insurgents' in the middle east than EVER existed in the first place!
I AM NOT ADVOCATING INSURGENCY! Merely using this as an example of the dynamic between government,law enforcement, and military actions vs. the people they think they are 'protecting'.
SEMPER FIDELIS.
I read recently about a police car that got nabbed by a photo
radar and was trying desperately to get out of it (despite the fact
that there was no evidence the officer needed to travel that fast).
I've seen cops flying by me at 10-15 mph above the speed limit
only to see them chatting on the side of the road with their
buddies further down the road.
The police believe that since they enforce the law, they are
above the law.
Every day I have less and less respect for the police officers.
They are no longer protecting and serving. More and more they
have become hired thugs, bullies, and extortionists for the gov't
- nothing more.
nonsense. The police are just looking for a new, cheaper, way to
write more tickets.
Due process? Who needs it. There is revenue to be made.
Safety? A great PR argument.
Money? Ahh, money -- love the money, need more money.
Sadly our police force have become nothing more than thugs for
the local city/county council. And exactly where does all that
money go anyway? Because for all the taxes and fines and fees,
our gov't is providing us less today than ever before.
We, the people, are viewed as nothing more than a source of
revenue for councilmen and police. We have become indentured
servants to our "government".
Make money -- pay up;
buy things - pay up;
Go faster than some arbitrary number - pay up;
Want to use the services of your gov't that you've been paying
for -- pay up again.
It sickens me.
And nothing should be flying in normal flight airspace.