Drone rules for government agencies pitched
Dominique Fong The Desert Sun
Over the past seven months, Frank Taylor has been proposing a program about drones to various public agencies across the Coachella Valley.
During a public meeting at the Palm Springs Air Museum, Taylor emphasized that local governments and police should be transparent about data they gather from drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles. Taylor is a retired captain with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and a member of the Community Safety Consulting Group of retired police, pilots and unmanned aircraft consultants.
“We’ve come up with some guidelines that we put across to people,” said Taylor, a Palm Desert resident. “It’s transparent, accountable and up front. All missions and all data that’s retained is available for public viewing.”
Drones have lately drawn scrutiny because of their use in commercial flights. Real estate agents, for example, have used them to take pictures of high-end real estate. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to clarify rules about commercial flights in November.
But the use of drones by police and government is also under review. Two state laws propose limits on the data that public agencies would collect from an unmanned aircraft.
The California State Assembly approved on Jan. 29 a bill that would require public agencies to destroy data gathered by drones after six months, bans drones from carrying weapons and requires police to have a warrant, except in emergency cases. The bill, AB 1327, moved to the state Senate for further consideration. The Senate is also considering another drone-related law, SB 15.
Coachella Valley police agencies and cities are waiting for a final decision from the state before making any further moves.
Sgt. Harvey Reed, spokesman for the Palm Springs Police Department, wrote in an email that drones have benefits for search-and-rescue missions, but that they are still a contentious issue.
“The value and feasibility of using unmanned aerial systems in natural disaster areas and search-and-rescue operations is still being researched by the Community Safe Consulting Group,” Reed wrote.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department doesn’t have immediate plans to buy an unmanned aerial vehicle, Assistant Sheriff Lee Wagner wrote in an email. There’s no funding for one now nor in next year’s budget, Wagner wrote.
“We are interested in learning more about the developing technology and their possible usefulness in search-and-rescue efforts to assist in saving lives,” Wagner wrote.
Unmanned aircraft could help the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team find lost hikers and other people in vast, remote areas of Riverside County such as the San Jacinto Mountains and the rural desert surrounding the Coachella Valley, Wagner wrote.
Wagner added that strong public outreach education and a “restrictive usage program” would address concerns about privacy.
In April 2013, Rancho Mirage gained attention for being possibly the first California city to consider restrictions on drone use.
The proposed ordinance banned the flying of “unmanned aircraft that can fly under the control of a remote pilot or by a geographic positions system (GPS) guided autopilot mechanism” up to 400 feet above areas zoned residential, The Desert Sun previously reported.
A “drone permit” from Rancho Mirage would have required an operator to only record a single home, along with written permission from the homeowner.
Steve Quintanilla, City Attorney for Rancho Mirage, said the city has tabled the proposal until the outcome of the two pending state bills.
Taylor’s proposal suggests using fixed-wing drones to help police save money in search-and-rescue missions, disaster preparedness and emergencies. A fixed-wing drone flies like a small airplane, instead of hovering like a helicopter.
“No weapons are attached to any of them,” Taylor said. “Any images retained for public viewing, unless a court orders them sealed, that after a reasonable period of time, those images should be destroyed.”
Taylor also noted that drones could help agricultural businesses survey their land and determine crop damage. He did not delve into other kinds of businesses using drones.
The FAA allows commercial drone flights on a case-by-case basis. They must include a certified aircraft, a licensed pilot and operating approval. Only one operation in the U.S. has so far been approved — Insitu’s ScanEagle — and even then, it’s limited to the Arctic region. Private citizens can apply for an experimental airworthiness certificate to do research and development, training and flight demos with drones.
Public agencies, including public universities, can apply for a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization. An application requires a registered aircraft and a certified pilot, among other requirements.
The Community Safety Consulting Group recommends a regional standard for unmanned aerial systems. Early talks about drones would better prepare Coachella Valley officials, Taylor said. Congress has asked the FAA to create rules that would safely integrate unmanned aircraft into the airspace by 2015.
“If you talk about this at the onset, then people will understand,” Taylor said.
“If you tell (the public) they’re not doing surveillance or airstrikes or retaining data, and not searching or looking in backyards and windows, they’ll understand and hold you accountable.”
