Has anyone been stopped from flying by the police in the UK...?

[Captain Oveur]

And have you been stopped or arrested or had the drone confiscated etc by the police for flying in a park?

 

[Exphantomflyer]

And have you been stopped or arrested or had the drone confiscated etc by the police for flying in a park?

Never heard of it, ive heard people who have flown over houses etc being warned, and that idiot who flew over the football stadiums was banned and had his quads removed, same as the idiot that flew over the nuclear sub base in the North, but a park, Im sure thats public land, unless a Byelaw is in place to prevent flying ,even then a copper doesnt have the authority to sieze property unless its related to a crime. Did you have a park in mind ?

 

[Captain Oveur]

Thanks for your reply. So I’ve had my MP2 2 weeks and keep going to a bit of green belt near Chorlton, Manchester. I only fly when it’s quiet, keep clear of people and houses etc. The app flags up old Trafford cricket ground s a no-fly zone but I’m nowhere near it. Point being, I’m not quite sure what I’d say if I got a tap on the shoulder from the boys in blue. Just practicing figure of 8s really.

 

[Moon]

I've never heard of it happening for flying in a park. Police in the UK generally don't give a monkeys about illegal drone flying even when it is people flying BVLOS, over congested areas, over motorways/railways or flying over 400ft. Various forces talk the talk about clamping down illegal flying but in reality they don't record incidents as crimes, won't investigate other than finding out a name to put against an intel report and they don't go out to speak to or warn pilots about their behaviour. There is no training given to frontline officers on drone offences nor the resources to deal with this anyway. The general feeling is this is something the CAA should deal with but it has fallen on the police to enforce.

If someone reported you for flying in a park for example then it is classed as anti social behaviour and is given the lowest grade/priority to attend. This also happens to reports of drug dealing. Don't worry about it, your batteries will have run out and you'll be long gone before an officer attends.

What I noticed was that forces would do their best to pass complaints about drones onto someone else as no one really knows what to do or wants to deal with it. They also don't want crimes on their books as it makes the crime figures look bad so any chance to write a crime off they will take it in the same way they reclassify robbery as assault and theft to make it look like there are less robberies happening. Certainly in my experience BTP, Surrey, Essex and West Midlands are not interested in illegal drone activity, they wont record it and wont investigate. I dare say other forces have the same "take no action" policy too.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

There is no training given to frontline officers on drone offences nor the resources to deal with this anyway. The general feeling is this is something the CAA should deal with but it has fallen on the police to enforce.

What I noticed was that forces would do their best to pass complaints about drones onto someone else as no one really knows what to do or wants to deal with it.

This is the crux of the whole new string of upcoming changes for drone flyers in Australia and the US, along with the UK.

It’s all well and good having rules, but who’s enforcing them now, and who is going to be there enforcing them after new hobbyist licensing comes in ?
Our rules in Australia basically aren’t changing and right now there isn’t much pro active policing, always reactive.

The mischievous flyers now with no regard for rules aren’t all of a sudden going to go and get a license, register drone, no only the law abiding will be inconvenienced to do that and pay the minor fee.

It all seems a waste of time really.

The only good thing is the basic licensing test will ensure all those that do register will know these.

For the OP.
Many councils here in Oz have their bylaws (bye laws) they can put in place to ban drone use in parks.
In general this only stops you from taking off and landing from park grounds, you should be able to overfly taking local rules to fly into account.
This includes flying with VLOS which can limit this, as well as, yes, making it purely inconvenient for the drone operator.

Govco is supposed to make our lives easier, not harder [emoji53]

 

[Captain Oveur]

Never heard of it, ive heard people who have flown over houses etc being warned, and that idiot who flew over the football stadiums was banned and had his quads removed, same as the idiot that flew over the nuclear sub base in the North, but a park, Im sure thats public land, unless a Byelaw is in place to prevent flying ,even then a copper doesnt have the authority to sieze property unless its related to a crime. Did you have a park in mind ?

Thanks for your response. Are there any parks close to the centre of Manchester that you can think of that OK to fly in, assuming it’s not too busy?

 

[Captain Oveur]

This is the crux of the whole new string of upcoming changes for drone flyers in Australia and the US, along with the UK.

It’s all well and good having rules, but who’s enforcing them now, and who is going to be there enforcing them after new hobbyist licensing comes in ?
Our rules in Australia basically aren’t changing and right now there isn’t much pro active policing, always reactive.

The mischievous flyers now with no regard for rules aren’t all of a sudden going to go and get a license, register drone, no only the law abiding will be inconvenienced to do that and pay the minor fee.

It all seems a waste of time really.

The only good thing is the basic licensing test will ensure all those that do register will know these.

For the OP.
Many councils here in Oz have their bylaws (bye laws) they can put in place to ban drone use in parks.
In general this only stops you from taking off and landing from park grounds, you should be able to overfly taking local rules to fly into account.
This includes flying with VLOS which can limit this, as well as, yes, making it purely inconvenient for the drone operator.

Govco is supposed to make our lives easier, not harder [emoji53]

Yes I’ve read about changes in Australia, we’ve all got to register drones come the Autumn too, I think. But as you say, if this is purely voluntary who will stop those unregistered from giving the rest a bad name? Not to say that those who fly with an unregistered drone will necessarily be reckless. There’s a big brother aspect to this too though isn’t there, DJI know exactly who’s flying a drone and where, who bought it and at what altitude and speed, which begs the question could they be asked to hand over data even to someone looking to prosecute a drone pilot. Once again, and for all the reasons you and Moon have outlined, there’d need to be more police on the ground, with new powers and not much else to do to start interfering with what is essentially a hobby.

 

[westyggx]

Thanks for your reply. So I’ve had my MP2 2 weeks and keep going to a bit of green belt near Chorlton, Manchester. I only fly when it’s quiet, keep clear of people and houses etc. The app flags up old Trafford cricket ground s a no-fly zone but I’m nowhere near it. Point being, I’m not quite sure what I’d say if I got a tap on the shoulder from the boys in blue. Just practicing figure of 8s really.

Hey mate i live in urmston!

 

[Captain Oveur]

Hey mate i live in urmston!

Cool. Where do you fly? Any locations nearby? Or so you just head to your local park?

 

[westyggx]

Cool. Where do you fly? Any locations nearby? Or so you just head to your local park?

At the minute the meadows as there's lots of open space. You?

 

[Captain Oveur]

Cool. Where do you fly? Any locations nearby? Or so you just head to your local park?

I fly at the edge of a local park at times when ther’s Few people around, I go to Longford Park.

 

[bushie]

This is the crux of the whole new string of upcoming changes for drone flyers in Australia and the US, along with the UK.

It’s all well and good having rules, but who’s enforcing them now, and who is going to be there enforcing them after new hobbyist licensing comes in ?
Our rules in Australia basically aren’t changing and right now there isn’t much pro active policing, always reactive.

The mischievous flyers now with no regard for rules aren’t all of a sudden going to go and get a license, register drone, no only the law abiding will be inconvenienced to do that and pay the minor fee.

It all seems a waste of time really.

The only good thing is the basic licensing test will ensure all those that do register will know these.

For the OP.
Many councils here in Oz have their bylaws (bye laws) they can put in place to ban drone use in parks.
In general this only stops you from taking off and landing from park grounds, you should be able to overfly taking local rules to fly into account.
This includes flying with VLOS which can limit this, as well as, yes, making it purely inconvenient for the drone operator.

Govco is supposed to make our lives easier, not harder [emoji53]

As I have mentioned before, my local City Council was considering banning Flights from parks. There legal advise was they did not have the legal power to do so so dropped the whole idea. Now have policy that allows flights that comply with CASA regs.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

As I have mentioned before, my local City Council was considering banning Flights from parks. There legal advise was they did not have the legal power to do so so dropped the whole idea. Now have policy that allows flights that comply with CASA regs.

That’s good news, let’s hope other councils (and Aussie National Parks) that do have bans also start taking that policy line.

 

[Exphantomflyer]

Thanks for your reply. So I’ve had my MP2 2 weeks and keep going to a bit of green belt near Chorlton, Manchester. I only fly when it’s quiet, keep clear of people and houses etc. The app flags up old Trafford cricket ground s a no-fly zone but I’m nowhere near it. Point being, I’m not quite sure what I’d say if I got a tap on the shoulder from the boys in blue. Just practicing figure of 8s really.

Mate you are round the corner from me, our group fly at turn moss at weekends, drop me an email at [email protected]

 

[Porky]

And have you been stopped or arrested or had the drone confiscated etc by the police for flying in a park?

Things could, I use the word “could” with caution, change come November when we need to register our drones.

 

[Exphantomflyer]

Hey mate i live in urmston!

Also around the corner from me, drop me an email I put in my last post

 

[Mungmeister]

Thanks for your reply. So I’ve had my MP2 2 weeks and keep going to a bit of green belt near Chorlton, Manchester. I only fly when it’s quiet, keep clear of people and houses etc. The app flags up old Trafford cricket ground s a no-fly zone but I’m nowhere near it. Point being, I’m not quite sure what I’d say if I got a tap on the shoulder from the boys in blue. Just practicing figure of 8s really.

Hi I use to fly my MP just over the way from Chorlton at Jackson’s boat, there is a small field owned by Model flying club noticed last time over there they have put a No Drone flying notice up only ever seen anyone there once or twice over 3 years of flying there, maybe more places will start putting signage up, never had any other problem flying along River Mersey

 

[Manty]

Suffolk County Council have banned the flying of drones from all of their parks "and other places".
They claim in accordance with the Drone Code that there are always too many people in them!

 

[BossBob]

Same in Bristol except for 3 fairly boring parks surrounded by playgrounds, hospitals, roads and houses.

 

[Moon]

Lots of councils say they have banned drones or you cant fly them on their land. The problem is there are no signs saying this on the parks, no bylaws, nothing on their website and the parks & recreational don't respond when challenged. I fly from my local park sometimes and get challenged. I stay calm and polite and remind them I am flying in accordance with the ANO and the drone code. If you are polite and not flying like a muppet then they allow you to carry on (in my experience). They don't know the rules, law and pretty much take your word for it. Once they say you need a "drone license" you know they haven't got a clue.
If you are going to fly on a park then use common sense, don't go when it is busy and avoid people.

Personally I cant be done with the hassle of flying in local parks. Much easier to go in the countryside or a sparsely populated area and fly over fields. Nice views and less risks. Happy flying folks!