Neighbor yells at me over the fence, calling me a pedophile, calls the cops on me. Cops reassure me I can keep flying.

[Cafguy]

Well, ok then. Let's hope you don't encounter some enthusiastic lacrosse players celebrating a victory.

Really sir! Cmon lets be realistic here!!
I have family members in law enforcement and I know many members of our local law enforcement community they carry weapons off duty as well.... and they Do not live at a retirement home. Nor do I...... but say... your statement does conjure up memories of the old WKUK video called Old folks home LOL Maybe I'll check that out..
People that legally carry firearms are trained to do so. When I was a toddler my parents sent me to a place that taught me the difference in someone who is celebrating a victory or someone who is about to bash my head in. You may or may not believe in a citizens right to carry a weapon BUT I can tell you that you have nothing to fear from it. Responsible gun owners carry an object that they hope never to use kinda like insurance and if you have ever carried very large sums of money around in L.A. without a weapon I would say you are the one that perhaps needs the home. lol ..."just ribbin ya"
If you don't agree that's fine...... lets keep it at that. This is a Drone forum... I think we can agree to disagree at times.

 

[MS Coast]

Really sir! Cmon lets be realistic here!!
I have family members in law enforcement and I know many members of our local law enforcement community they carry weapons off duty as well.... and they Do not live at a retirement home. Nor do I...... but say... your statement does conjure up memories of the old WKUK video called Old folks home LOL Maybe I'll check that out..
People that legally carry firearms are trained to do so. When I was a toddler my parents sent me to a place that taught me the difference in someone who is celebrating a victory or someone who is about to bash my head in. You may or may not believe in a citizens right to carry a weapon BUT I can tell you that you have nothing to fear from it. Responsible gun owners carry an object that they hope never to use kinda like insurance and if you have ever carried very large sums of money around in L.A. without a weapon I would say you are the one that perhaps needs the home. lol ..."just ribbin ya"
If you don't agree that's fine...... lets keep it at that. This is a Drone forum... I think we can agree to disagree at times.

I've just stated my point of view. I've not disagreed with anything you've said. Until now.

"People that legally carry firearms are trained to do so." Not so. Many states have no training requirements whatsoever for open or concealed carry.

As I said, when I find myself so fearful that I want to carry a weapon to fly drones or when I realize I've been walking around any large city carrying very large sums of money, I'll check myself in. You do what you think you need to do.

 

[Slade]

Always try to educate the ignorant. When that doesn’t work one always has the option of a digit salute.

 

[G Saunders]

I wanted to add to this long thread that the officers who responded to my neighbor's complaint that I was peeping into his private spaces, which I was not, talked with me, looked at the video and flight logs, then went and warned the neighbor that lying to a dispatcher was a crime and me flying my drone was not, this was a warning, but another call would result in a citation. The neighbor was apoplectic, but never complained again.

 

[DoomMeister]

Please stay on topic and leave the firearms issue to another forum. This is not the place.

 

[Cafguy]

Good to hear that the officers warned the neighbor that should end it.

 

[BlueHeeler]

coldbricks,

It's unfortunate you had to experience that, and you handled the situation well. One cannot educate some people about anything, they're hooked on CNN, MSNBC and negative social media, they believe every single word.

I have yet to come across someone like that, in fact, everyone that saw what I was doing came over to say hi and asked questions, but only after I have landed or parked the drone nearby in hover mode above our heads.
Some were just impressed with the technology.

 

[coldbricks]

^Going to agree with the above which is why I never fly from home. The neighbors do not know I have drones. All these can see is black bags and backpacks going to and from car when parked outside. On occasion I have been known to carry the controller in hand.

You got luckily the cops understood. One day you will have a cop(s) arrive that don't understand so be prepared for that. Anyone who thinks the arriving police will always side with you if you are doing nothing wrong will be even more shocked when it happens to you. You don't know what the caller said. If he told the police you were flying drones and nothing else and the police know this is legal, why not visit the caller and then go home? Why not tell him there is no crime and call us back if you think a crime is being committed? Why do they have to talk to you? Did you motion for them to come over? Police don't have to make contact with you but if the report claims you are doing something wrong, take a look at the report and make sure your name is not on the list as a possible pedo flying a drone in the neighborhood. Too many of those calls won't look good on your record and you *will* end up on a list. Make sure report doesn't say "We made contact with pilot and pilot refused to show video so we left." How do you know the report doesn't say that?

Callers know they have to exaggerate or make up lies to get police to respond and if they can get at least one to side with them, you might be in trouble unless you are ready for it. Keep flying if you want but just be prepared and I think you are because you said you know the drone laws very well (sometimes police don't like that, they are people too and there are many "people" who don't like drones). Make sure you know your rights too when you deal with police, it's not solely about drones and drone laws. There's a thing called "we got a complaint so we are opening an investigation..." which they believe gives them all kinds of ridiculous "rights" that they feel you have to obey.

So my bottom line is you should find out how this went down today so you won't maybe have to deal with it tomorrow after your neighbor has moved away and you're trying to get some sort of clearance and the new AI tags your name and pedo together because of poorly written reports. You said it yourself, you were unnerved by the police, there's a reason for that. Listen to your senses.

Lots of inaccuracy here but I do appreciate the post.

 

[CadrePilot]

I wanted to add to this long thread that the officers who responded to my neighbor's complaint that I was peeping into his private spaces, which I was not, talked with me, looked at the video and flight logs, then went and warned the neighbor that lying to a dispatcher was a crime and me flying my drone was not, this was a warning, but another call would result in a citation. The neighbor was apoplectic, but never complained again.

I'm confused.
Are you aka "coldbricks"?
This is "G Saunders" first comment on this thread that I can see.

 

[Oldwest2]

I'm confused.
Are you aka "coldbricks"?
This is "G Saunders" first comment on this thread that I can see.

Whew thought it was only me, somewhere along the way the posts seemed liked it was two different names responding as the OP post.

 

[KJC Imaging]

Hey everyone,

New York State drone pilot here. I’m looking for some advice on how to handle a situation with my neighbor. I’ve been flying my Mavic 3 Pro from my backyard, fully registered and under Part 107 regulations (I work with the FAA, in fact I work in air traffic ops). Yesterday, out of nowhere, my neighbor, who I’ve never interacted with before, started yelling at me from their side of the fence. They were completely irate, shouting obscenities, calling me a “pedophile,” telling me to “get a hobby,” and saying I was a “creep.” It was bizarre and pretty unsettling, especially with my kids around... I mean, part of it was even almost comical it was so out of nowhere.

I tried to calm things down by inviting them to talk and even offered the contact info for the local FSDO if they wanted to report me. But instead, they escalated it and called the police...

When the officers arrived, I immediately said... Let me guess, it's about the drone? They both kind of rolled their eyes and said.. yes. I explained everything in detail and laid out all the regulations I was following. They were VERY supportive and reassured me I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I also work part-time for the local DOT and I asked them for the local police report number/complaint number ID which he happily provided. It was actually a very pleasant and uneventful meeting with the cops, but nevertheless one could understand why this is a bit disturbing.

For context, I’ve never flown towards their house intentionally—ever. I have probably overflown it a few times over the months, but not anything intentional and I've never once had any desire to have anything to do with that property, that's not why I fly my drone. I am almost always at 400 feet (AGL) with proper LAANC clearance within a busy class C airspace inner ring. Frankly I just don't care.

To be a little bit blunt about it, I'm quite literally a professional, subject matter expert of the FAA National Airspace System. You can get mad, that's fine - but I know what I'm doing.

I always take off over the tree line and head straight to a county park about a quarter mile away, staying within a clear line of sight through my tree line. So honestly, I’m more confused than anything… in fact it almost makes me wonder, what the hell are they hiding over there? But, like I said earlier, I don't really care.

I guess I’ll just keep flying and try to ignore it, but I can’t help feeling uneasy about the whole thing. Has anyone else dealt with something like this? How did you handle it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I should add that I've been flying for months and this is the first time I have ever, ever had anybody react negatively to my drone in my face.Thanks!


The one cop said it best, "some people just freak out at new technology." indeed.

I have flown a lot from home and not had any neighbors come by to complain, although I did once hear a neighbor yell to her partner, "is that a fu%^&g drone?" so I steer clear of their patch. I've had a few encounters with angry dronephobic people when flying in public areas, and I carry a folder with me that contains all the info to prove I'm legal and have all the necessary permissions. People will argue 'till they're blue in the face that you're not allowed to be there because their brother-in-law is an airline pilot or whatever, so the folder contains a lot of facts that usually satisfies them or at least shuts them up. I've tried both the stealthy out-of-view approach and the neon signs, cones, landing pads, reflective vests and hard hats approach, and ironically the latter is most effective at making yourself invisible. When you look like a contractor nobody bats an eyelid. I think people who show dislike for drones suspect some kind of weirdo motive for flying the drone, so the official business appearance puts their minds at rest.

 

[Max Headroom]

I know not every person that moans about drones has seen the many auditors on social media but many have and i think they have a lot to answer for they have given drone flyers a bad name.

 

[mavic3usa]

I know not every person that moans about drones has seen the many auditors on social media but many have and i think they have a lot to answer for they have given drone flyers a bad name.

It's going to be worse before it gets better, no? We really don't have a lot of drone auditors here in the US....but it's coming is my prediction.

 

[DARKSeifer]

When flying from your garden, you always want to climb to 120m and move the drone away at least 250-300m ASAP.

But it depends on your area, it's not the same living in a clustered urbanization, which are quite common in the US, than on terrain with a more sparse placed houses.

In general, you don't want the people living around upset, humans tend to live more than half a century and are stupid enough to never turn the page on you.

 

[Max Headroom]

It's going to be worse before it gets better, no? We really don't have a lot of drone auditors here in the US....but it's coming is my prediction.

All over social media here, i used to watch these two a while ago (now blocked) but it soon becomes obvious all they want is confrontation to get more viewers (click bait) they are not really interested in filming industrial estate this is proved by the lack of videos they upload to their channels where they don't get any confrontation.

Why do they hide their faces is it a surprise company owners challenge them?

It's going to be worse before it gets better, no?

I really do hope it doesn't take off (no pun intended) in America but as its an easy way to make money i imagine it will.

Watch two of the most prolific "auditors" in the U.K do their thing -

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[MS Coast]

Watch two of the most prolific "auditors" in the U.K do their thing -

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Or, ignore them. Don't reward them with clicks and revenue.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I have a permit to carry a weapon in other states besides California. I don't only carry it when flying my Drones.
I pretty much have it available all the time........... I am not mental .....nor do i feel the need to shoot at someone ( I had enough of that in the Military for one lifetime) BUT I will protect myself and my loved ones. Some behavior presented by these karens can be threatening and I for one will not be assaulted or robbed waiting for the police to arrive!
Remember I said I have NO desire to ever use this weapon BUT I have it because others around Do have this desire and could care less about assaulting me and taking my property. MY 2 Cents.

A gun is simply a tool.

I have no desire to beat someone with a tire iron, but should I ever find myself in circumstances that require I do so, I would without hesitation.

Simply another tool.