My neighbor keeps calling the police

[SkyDogII]

Hey guys,
Got a little problem and it starting to escalate. So I need some advice. What would you do??

ok so I live in a big city, LA, yeah a crap hole. I know. But I’m in Burbank. Much nicer. ?

so I’ve been flying for recreational enjoyment for the last couple of months.

2 months ago, some guy stalked my drone when it landed in my backyard. He came to my front door and confronted me about flying over his house. Whatever, I get it. Some peeps don’t like drones. No problem. He told me thatI flew in his backyard and cut his telephone wire. I told him he was incorrect and if my M2Z has hit his telephone wires it would be laying him his backyard.

Anyway. This clown has called the po po (the police, the man, the fuzz, etc....) on me for the last 5 flights.

anyway, the cops rolled up on me Again yesterday. This time they sent out the watch commander to play tough guy.

I laid into them this time. They roll up and say did you call the police. Their dispatch for it wrong and thought my house had called them. Well I don’t need the police. I have my own protection and can take card of any situation. Back on point, I showed them the Kittyhawk app, my approval to fly as a recreational pilot, the DJI go app and the flight telemetry, and my iPhone screen recording (I prefer to screen record my flight just in case anything happens and I don’t have any
Live video).

they agreed that I followed all the correct procedures and rules

what I have a problem about is at the very end of my conversation with the 3 police officers.
This guy had the ( Mod Removed) to tell me that this incident could be related to a nuisance incident because they have to keep coming out to my location. they tried to relate it to a house burglar alarm that goes off on nuisance calls. They told me they were going to charge me if they had to come out to my house again. I told them flat out that was a bunch of crap since I wasn’t the one that was reporting the drone flying over the house. I told them they need to go speak with the guy that called in the complaint. So they could educate him about the laws and that if he called in again he was going to be the one to get charged for the nuisance. They didn’t like me taking back. They started to get a little more aggressive. I told them that I was done, this is ba, and get off
My property and I went back in the house. My wife was pissed that I just walked away.

so I came back they gave me some phone number to call for police relations. Left two messages. No reply back. Called the popo again to make sure I had the right guy, yeah I do.

so here it is. Besides not flying intentionally or unintentionally over this neighbors house, what advise can you give me. I’ve already tried to make contact with the popo like I said.
There are no rules saying I can’t fly in my area. I always get LAANCE approval because I am near an airport. I don’t do stupid stuff. But his clown down the street is killing my fun time.

what suggestions do you have for me

Thanks for the help.
Skydog4
Dog out

 

[AMann]

Lawyer up. Send a cease and desist letter to your neighbor to stop harassing you? Get one of these and fly around the neighborhood, especially near but not over that guy’s house:


Hey I was just kidding, but it really does sound like it’s getting out of hand and you don’t have any power over the guy either. Personally I would be careful, maybe lay low for a while and hopefully there’s a better place to fly nearby, else ask yourself if it is it really worth it? Good luck, I feel bad for you having to live next to that.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Ideally the police should go back to the bloke reporting you, and tell him you are totally operating within the law and to go talk to you if he has any concerns.
Failing that If you knew / know which neighbour is the problem, I’d TRY going to have a polite chat in person.
Advise the FAA rules and your adherence, if he’s amicable show him some footage and how it’s not invading privacy of anyone with its camera.

 

[Gryphon962]

Email the Burbank police community relations officer. He usually can reach to the city attorney if there is doubt over this nuisance ( Mod Removed ). The city attorney might give a clear unbiased opinion of who has been naughty and who has been nice. A lot depends on what laws Burbank has.

My advice: I also live in Los Angeles County. Its a huge urban area. I would never fly on a regular basis from my house, for the reasons you have encountered. Take a short drive up in to the Los Angeles forest and fly all you want.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

If it was me I'd drive myself to a better area worth flying.

 

[AnzacJack]

Sometimes the easiest way is just avoid the situation. Do you know the house? If you are just flying for fun, surely you could just avoid his house. That’s what I’d do, as I certainly couldn’t be bothered with getting into pissing contests with people about who’s right and wrong if I can easily avoid it.

End of the day, your in the right, if you want to go through the bother of pursuing it, then do so. Otherwise divert a little on your flight paths

 

[RayOZ]

I would find somewhere else to fly so I don’t have to deal with people who might cause trouble. Surely it gets boring by now flying over the same place and dealing with the same problem. Find somewhere new.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

SkyDogII I don't think you can win this battle in any way (no matter how much of the law you are adhering to). The second the police showed up it was bad for you. It sucks but you are amongst a community that sympathizes with you. I'm 45 miles east of you. There are plenty of open hassle-free places to fly in Southern California.

 

[AMann]

Do you know what? After spending a little time thinking about this, I began to realize that it is people like that guy and maybe even the police department due to all the calls they have been getting due to your drone that are going to cause problems for all of us. People angered and bothered by someone flying a drone can cause problems by complaining and also supporting legislation against the use of drones in populated areas. It may be people like that guy why Utah’s Senator Lee is proposing airspace jurisdiction below 200 feet for local government. We really don’t need more people like that guy calling our legislators. I really think that he probably shouldn’t be provoked, and maybe we should all really try to not bother others and find somewhere else to fly if necessary. It also means being an ambassador with your drone. We really need to give more people a positive attitude towards them, not against.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Reminds me when I had my first drone, a $30 job from Amazon with no camera, it had something like a 100 foot range. I was flying it at a local park and some meathead comes storming up to me yelling at me that I was peeping into his daughters bedroom window. I laughed and told him "Cool story bro" after he told me where his house was, 1/4 mile away. He said he was going to call the cops and sue me, when I offered to save him the hassle and call the cops for him, he stormed off never to be heard from again.

Some people have nothing better to do, sounds like your neighbor. Call a lawyer, save your flight logs and file a formal complaint against him in court.

 

[SkyDogII]

Thank you for all the advise guys I’ve got to consider how far I want to push this.

I will for sure speak with the police public relations guy for his opinion.

I like to fly for a quickie around the neighborhood after work some days. That’s mainly how this all started.
Thanks again

skydog

 

[james_mav]

I'm convinced police officers don't have any common sense. What seems logical to you or me is beyond their comprehension. I guarantee the police go speak to the guy complaining & tell him they've warned you not to fly instead of telling him to quit complaining since you're not doing anything wrong. I just read a story of the police arresting a college student after being stopped for riding her bike the wrong way on a street. The girl wouldn't give the police her ID but the police should never have threatened to arrest her or ticket her in the first place.

 

[crlmjohnson]

Hey guys,
Got a little problem and it starting to escalate. So I need some advice. What would you do??

ok so I live in a big city, LA, yeah a crap hole. I know. But I’m in Burbank. Much nicer. ?

so I’ve been flying for recreational enjoyment for the last couple of months.

2 months ago, some guy stalked my drone when it landed in my backyard. He came to my front door and confronted me about flying over his house. Whatever, I get it. Some peeps don’t like drones. No problem. He told me thatI flew in his backyard and cut his telephone wire. I told him he was incorrect and if my M2Z has hit his telephone wires it would be laying him his backyard.

Anyway. This clown has called the po po (the police, the man, the fuzz, etc....) on me for the last 5 flights.

anyway, the cops rolled up on me Again yesterday. This time they sent out the watch commander to play tough guy.

I laid into them this time. They roll up and say did you call the police. Their dispatch for it wrong and thought my house had called them. Well I don’t need the police. I have my own protection and can take card of any situation. Back on point, I showed them the Kittyhawk app, my approval to fly as a recreational pilot, the DJI go app and the flight telemetry, and my iPhone screen recording (I prefer to screen record my flight just in case anything happens and I don’t have any
Live video).

they agreed that I followed all the correct procedures and rules

what I have a problem about is at the very end of my conversation with the 3 police officers.
This guy had the ( Mod Removed) to tell me that this incident could be related to a nuisance incident because they have to keep coming out to my location. they tried to relate it to a house burglar alarm that goes off on nuisance calls. They told me they were going to charge me if they had to come out to my house again. I told them flat out that was a bunch of crap since I wasn’t the one that was reporting the drone flying over the house. I told them they need to go speak with the guy that called in the complaint. So they could educate him about the laws and that if he called in again he was going to be the one to get charged for the nuisance. They didn’t like me taking back. They started to get a little more aggressive. I told them that I was done, this is ba, and get off
My property and I went back in the house. My wife was pissed that I just walked away.

so I came back they gave me some phone number to call for police relations. Left two messages. No reply back. Called the popo again to make sure I had the right guy, yeah I do.

so here it is. Besides not flying intentionally or unintentionally over this neighbors house, what advise can you give me. I’ve already tried to make contact with the popo like I said.
There are no rules saying I can’t fly in my area. I always get LAANCE approval because I am near an airport. I don’t do stupid stuff. But his clown down the street is killing my fun time.

what suggestions do you have for me

Thanks for the help.
Skydog4
Dog out

if it was me, and I really wanted to fly from house, I would try to repair my relations with my neighbor. maybe education him a little on the drone. and try to get him to see how fun it is to fly one.

 

[Bill combs]

Ideally the police should go back to the bloke reporting you, and tell him you are totally operating within the law and to go talk to you if he has any concerns.
Failing that If you knew / know which neighbour is the problem, I’d TRY going to have a polite chat in person.
Advise the FAA rules and your adherence, if he’s amicable show him some footage and how it’s not invading privacy of anyone with its camera.

i have a similar issue with a neighbor who knows i can see through her roof and see what she is doing,

 

[Jet skier]

Thank you for all the advise guys I’ve got to consider how far I want to push this.

I will for sure speak with the police public relations guy for his opinion.

I like to fly for a quickie around the neighborhood after work some days. That’s mainly how this all started.
Thanks again

skydog

Exactly I am the same sometimes that’s all the time I have to do it

 

[Ex nihil]

Well, if it was around my place, I'd drop around next door with a couple of beers and invite the guy, his girlfriend and kids to come out and get some fun flying lessons. Demo it and show him what it does and doesn't do and get him interested. Offer to phtograph his house or workplace or something, or take it down the park and mess around. Once I had a reasonable conviction that he wasn't going to fly a suicide mission I'd encourage hime to fly in restricted mode down the park. Negotiate a flight path out of your yard that he can cope with. The only way to avoid having a neighbour as an enemy is to make him a friend. More than that, keep friends with the police; if you're legal then you're not the nuisance caller, he is.

 

[WobblingWillie]

i have a similar issue with a neighbor who knows i can see through her roof and see what she is doing,

Tell her she needs more tin foil on her head to protect herself! LOL!

 

[sar104]

I'm convinced police officers don't have any common sense. What seems logical to you or me is beyond their comprehension. I guarantee the police go speak to the guy complaining & tell him they've warned you not to fly instead of telling him to quit complaining since you're not doing anything wrong. I just read a story of the police arresting a college student after being stopped for riding her bike the wrong way on a street. The girl wouldn't give the police her ID but the police should never have threatened to arrest her or ticket her in the first place.

So she broke the law and refused to supply ID for the police, and you are surprised that they arrested her?

 

[Recoveryone]

The neighbor is most likely a lost cause and will never see any other view point other than his own. As with your local P.D. you be better off appealing to their sense of the rule of law. I would ask to meet with someone from the command staff (Lt or higher) and discuss the issue. Make sure you bring several articles about drone use (positive ones) and printed out pages of the FAA rules and regulations for hobbyist and commercial operators. You want to present yourself as an informed and complaint flyer and not some loose cannon. Your neighbor has already earned that title (loose cannon) and by taking this approach you will put the burden of proof of neglectful operation of your drone on the neighbor and not you defending yourself each time a call is made. Many times people only hear the sound of a drone and think its over their house, just like gun fire, not knowing the facts of how sound travels. But again, you want to take the pressure off yourself and place it on the caller that is complaining. If he is the only one calling, P.D. will become aware of this only being a neighbor dispute and will leave it alone and advise the caller to seek other legal action. No lawyer wants to get involved in a he said she said deal with no clear laws/rules being violated.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

After reading the responses . . . I (wholeheartedly) agree that deescalation is the proper course of action. Counter his anger with calming capitulation. It's EXTREMELY difficult to remain hostile with someone who's in a solemn, agreeable state. I know it's difficult with an A-typical Alpha Male demeanor that most of us have. We have to check the pride at the onset . . . sympathize, understand, educate, befriend and survive the encounter to fly another day,