I agree. I am police officer, Part 107 pilot and have a private pilot’s license (none of which makes my opinion more valid but I participate in and understand both sides).
The police, even as mentioned in the document, still have authority over local and state laws which may apply and those laws may have nothing to do specifically with drones. The state or local have NO authority to regulate air space but there are plenty of laws that don’t apply to air space for which anyone including a drone pilot can violate.
One time I arrested a helicopter pilot for various state laws violations and seized the helicopter. We actually out the two person helicopter on a flatbed wrecker and towed it away. Since I am a pilot I knew of several FAA violations and put into my investigation for both state and federal violations. We certainly didn’t file any federal charges because it is not within our jurisdiction. I did call the FSDO which luckily was only about 90 minutes away and after explaining the situation, they were more than glad to show up the next day and file federal charges. The short story is he was believed to be smuggling drugs but when he saw us he flew over a saltwater marsh and dumped his cargo. We could see him do it but never recovered the duffel bag looking package that he threw out.
An example of a law that might be enforced that is not specifically a drone law in most (or all) states is to recklessly endanger someone, which was one of the charges we filed on the helicopter pilot. Remember the standard to detain someone and question (although he doesn’t have to answer) is only reasonable suspicion of a crime (Supreme Court, Terry v. Ohio).
I might keep a printout with me and at some point might offer it, if the officer wishes to see it. I absolutely would not hand an officer a piece of paper and say, read this.
Officers can make mistakes but in my 37+ years (retired in May 2021), I have never heard an officer detaining or arresting someone on federal charges for any federal crime, much less but the FAA. In this case if an officer knows enough that he is familiar with federal and in particular FAA laws, he should then be aware that he can’t enforce them. I was in supervision and then command for 21, years and was never asked by an officer if he/she could enforce federal laws.
The information on the document isn’t bad but hopefully no one thinks it negates state authority on practically everything EXCEPT airspace. I am confident that most people taking time to read this forum are aware of most of this but I might approach handing an officer paperwork with reasonableness. I certainly wouldn’t see an officer walking up and start heading toward my car for the document (or anything else but that matter).
In my opinion …..
