I was visiting family in Nevada today. There was a large outdoor fair going on, so I decided to fly my drone overhead. I was approx 0.5 miles away sitting on the hood of my car operating the drone. Well 10 mins later 3 police cars swoop in around me as does a security company ATV. This guy in no uniform jumps out of the ATV and yells "here he is, here is this a-hole!!!". I threw my controller on my car seat. He approaches me very aggressive and he shoves me over the hood of my car with his hand against my chest. He then opens my car door and takes my controller (turns out he was not even a policeman he was a security guard!). Two uniformed policemen stand me up and start interrogating me. The tell me they are confiscating my drone. I ask if I've done anything illegal and they said "yes". The told me that in order to fly below 250' or over people, I need a permit. Then the security guard tells me that they are reporting me to the FAA for not having a "107 license". WTF is that? I registered my drone with the FAA and have my registration on me but don't have any "107 license". I was not doing anything commercial. I asked the policemen what statutes I violated. They immediately got on their phones and computers. 15 mins later they tell me two statutes, which they say are gross misdemeanors. I asked for the statutes numbers, which they gave me. When I got home I looked the statutes up... one is for catching fish that are too small and the other is for littering. WTF!!?? After 30 mins they gave me my drone back. Before sending me on my way they tell me "just get a permit, then you can fly anywhere and over people". They also told me they are reporting me to the FAA for being unsafe.
And the best part, as I was leaving to go into my car the one cop tells me that drones emit signals and the police watch all drone activity in real time.
What's the deal with these cops man? Are any type of permits required???
And the best part, as I was leaving to go into my car the one cop tells me that drones emit signals and the police watch all drone activity in real time.
What's the deal with these cops man? Are any type of permits required???