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Wow, is that really Police property? If not, a drone like that for Police work would be a great investment. The "Big Ones" we were talking about is just like that picture. Thanks for posting it.

Mxrdad wrote:Wow, is that really Police property? If not, a drone like that for Police work would be a great investment. The "Big Ones" we were talking about is just like that picture. Thanks for posting it.

Yep Police Property. I have told my wife that at least we are seeing a return on our investment in all of those video games we bought when he was a kid.

carlson1 wrote:

Mxrdad wrote:Wow, is that really Police property? If not, a drone like that for Police work would be a great investment. The "Big Ones" we were talking about is just like that picture. Thanks for posting it.

Yep Police Property. I have told my wife that at least we are seeing a return on our investment in all of those video games we bought when he was a kid.

The drone you pictured looks like the same model of my Nephews. It was amazing to see the easy he and my much younger Nephews took to " playing and controlling" the drone. Video games no doubt. I on the other hand never tried it.

Mxrdad wrote:Wow, is that really Police property? If not, a drone like that for Police work would be a great investment. The "Big Ones" we were talking about is just like that picture. Thanks for posting it.

That is not a big drone, that is one of the more expensive drones available to the average person. The cost of that drone would be a small down payment of a big drone.
It is a popular drone because of it's bells and whistles and it can be easily operated without hours of practice. It must be registered and if it is used for any reason other than a hobby the pilot must be licensed as of August 2016 (even for police work) Hopefully the new regulations will be tweaked soon to make more common sense but this is the federal government and they move slower than the state, county or municipal governments.

Maybe CCPD can get one with the Hellfire missiles like he CIA has. Beats flash bangs any day.

If your drone lands on my roof, am I obligated to fetch it for you?

Nope

Without my permission can you crawl onto my roof to fetch it?

Think again...

If your drone crashes through my window are you going to pay for damages?

Yes and whatever else the lawsuit will bring in...

How to prevent your drone from crashing onto other people's roofs, through their windows or yards front or back: Stay away from the potential of it crash landing onto residences.

In other words, fly it where it won't matter if it crash lands...

But, but, but, but you say, that'll mean I have to go somewhere where there's no homes to crash into and gosh, that'll mean I have to travel way out of my way. Yes, that's what it means.

P.S. If your drone crashes into ME or MINE, I'm going to make it my life's mission to see you in prison.

Mxrdad wrote:I am fairly certain if one uses a drone to spy on people, they are doing so illegally. I dont know what the law says about it all but if I can get my hands, or a stick on that bad boy, he's coming down. (Actually, dont even think about knocking it down bare handed, that could leave an ugly permanent mark). If they used it for spying, it would be so obvious and no doubt whatsoever, it was their intent and you would have to be passed out not to notice it. I cant shoot where I live due to close neighbors. But being one that owns one of these, I can tell ya they arent made for that and trying to fly it around at low altitudes is just begging for a crash. And if a crash happens, replacing that drone will hit the owners wallet to the tune of $1,000- $3,000, possibly more, so there arent a lot of pilots wanting to take that risk. They are better suited for high altitude aerial photography.

And like TAM mentioned, I have 1 neighbor at our camp on the lake. Before I flew it there, I asked them if they minded, and even showed them a video so they could see that spying is impossible. They agreed and had no problem with it. Not to mention, one has to be a very, very skilled pilot to maneuver around things like trees, power lines, buildings, light poles etc. at low altitude. In fact, at low altitude, the drone will loose signal and will likely abort the flight and Return To Home. The signal can get lost real easy. I wouldnt waste one minute worrying about a drone being used to spy on folks.

Again, a kid toy, not a problem. A big one trying to snoop around? Its going down if I can.

That's what I call responsible use and ownership. Like I said above, I get it that drones are cool. I'm not even against owning one myself. It's just that we live in a surveillance society, in which people are very tired of being spied on, by police, by their gov't, by in-store security systems, by online stalkers, whatever. People are tired of it. So it's just common courtesy to seek the permission of people you're going to be observing IF your observations are going to be focused on them in any way.

My analogy is photography. I'm an amateur photographer. If I'm taking pictures where there's a crowd of people, I don't bother with permission. But if I'm focusing on an individual, or a small group of individuals, I will actually ASK them if it's OK to take their picture. One of the pictures in my archive is of a group of about 10 year old girls having some kind of birthday celebration in the town's gazebo on Main Street. They were all in various costumes, and it made a charming picture. But you can bet that I did NOT take a single frame until I had obtained the permission of the parents who were present. It would have been creepy NOT to do so! People who violate the privacy of others - even in a public place like a city-owned gazebo on main street - need to obtain the permission of their subjects before invading their privacy. It just plain good manners, and the good Lord knows that we need more of that.......as the things of boorishness that diminish our once-great culture by eroding away at the dignity and sovereignty of the individual continue to pull us down the drain.

I know I make it sound like a bigger deal to some people than they think it is. But I'm old enough to remember a different time, when it would have been socially unthinkable to spy on others without their knowledge or permission. That was a better America. Technology is awesome, but ONLY when we use it responsibly, with a due regard for its effects on others. The macro example is all things nuclear. Nuclear technology is very cool. It's irresponsible use is very uncool. We make a big deal about Iran having nukes, but not the British who also have nukes. Why? Because Iran is a generally irresponsible nation and a bad actor. We KNOW what they will do with their nukes once they have them. We don't make a big deal about British nukes, because we know that, generally speaking, Great Britain is a responsible nation that will only use them as a last ditch measure of self-defense. We don't have a problem nuclear power generation, but we have a big problem with nuclear power plants when they are not properly maintained and kept safe.

This is a gun-related forum. We properly eschew the passing of laws that restrict the keeping and bearing of arms. But despite the fact that we KNOW that laws only apply to the law-abiding, we tend to deny the fact that society passes such laws in reaction to the irresponsible use of firearms. Over the last 240 years, gun laws upon gun laws have piled up on the books, as gov't bumbles through the notion that if it just passes another law, it will put an end to the depredations of irresponsible people with guns, while ignoring the concomitant effect that all those laws have on restricting the liberties of decent law-abiding Americans.

THAT is where drone technology is today. Some chowderhead thinks it would be a great idea to invade an airport's airspace to get cool video of the comings and going of aircraft - heedless to the possibility that his drone could conceivably bring down a big passenger jet, causing the deaths of hundreds.......and despite his having nowhere near the situational awareness of what's going on around his drone at 1,000 ft up as does the airport tower, which sees the big picture. So now the FAA gets involved. And once they're involved, since they control ALL of the nation's airspace, not just that which is over airports, they start regulating when, where, and how high a private drone pilot can take his drone........and the regulations begin.......all because some idiot with more sawdust than brains in his head got his hands on some cool technology.

There have been some landmark court decisions about things like whether or not police can use thermal imaging to spy on you inside your home, through its walls. They can't. Why? Because it an invasion of your right to be secure in your effects and persons. Now, if a peeping-Tom sneaks into my back yard and starts spying on my wife through the bedroom window as she is dressing or undressing, you can absolutely count on my ruining his eyesight with a baseball bat before I call the police. If he's using a drone to do it, you can absolutely count on my using a baseball bat on the drone before I call police. And to the topic of this thread, if someone's drone crashes in my backyard, he's going to have to PROVE to me (and the police) that he wasn't spying on me. If his recorded video proves it, then he gets my new drone back, and it becomes his again. Yes, I said "my". If the video reveals that he was spying on me, then I'll surrender my new drone to the police, and they can deal with him accordingly. OR, if he was spying on me and doesn't want the police to see the video, then he can just walk away and get a new one, and I'll mount my new drone on a board and put it over my fireplace mantle.

ALL OF WHICH could have been avoided if the drone pilot had simply had the common courtesy to notify the neighborhood that he would be flying over their houses on this day and time, for legitimate purposes.......and oh, by the way, here's my business card if you ever need to hire my services. Good manners almost always yields opportunity. Any small businessman can tell you that. But bad manners frequently end in a black eye for the perpetrator, and any decent person knows that.

FCH wrote:I try to be a good neighbor. I routinely return the neighbor's kid's balls. I would give them their drone back, too. Are there no moderates left in this world? There is a difference between kids/adults playing around and what we used to call peeping Toms.

This, although my two dogs, German Shepherd and a Catahoula Cur would probably make short work of it prior to me being able to rescue it. After I moved to town, my next door neighbor's kids often kicked or otherwise lost their footballs/baseballs/whatnot in my yard. As I still work for a living and am not home most days, by the time I could get back there, after being made aware of the loss, those items often were already destroyed. Those kids are a bit more careful now. Also, I really did try to rescue their toys, I didn't take my time to try to retrieve their items, its just that my dogs are really quick and think it a game to keep toys from me and each other. That drone, unless it is military grade, would probably be a total loss.

Here's a good drone motto: "My drone is grounded until I get to wilderness"

Commercial drone is like this hexacopter. Easily 5 figures. There's an octocopter mounting a LIDAR setup that runs $90,000.

carlson1 wrote:Here is a photo of the one my son operates at work.

No need for warrants for police to look in your backyard.

But not your garden variety drone looky loo's...

Mxrdad wrote:

Alf wrote:

priusron wrote:He has a legal right to fly his drone.

Maybe, if he complies with all applicable FAA regulations, but he doesn't have any legal right to set foot on my property without permission.

He can not fly over "people". If it lands in a backyard, its reasonable to assume there is a house by that back yard. A Homeowner could easily prove that drone should not have been flying there.

And I agree, he has no legal right to set foot on anybodys property without permission. I would have a problem if one of those "Big Ones" landed in my yard. He and I would have to have a serious talk about that. Those "Big Ones" can certainly hurt someone falling from the sky, or easily crack a windshield or other property damage. Now a kid toy? Not a problem. I would gladly give it back to the kid except I would retrieve it in my backyard if I could easily do so. Now if its high up in the tree, I wouldnt let them get it out due to liability. I wouldnt want someone climbing a ladder and risk a fall or other injury. I would let them know its in a tree and if/when it comes down, I'll let ya know.

What is the reference for your "can not fly over people" restriction? I'm unaware of that general restriction so having it would be helpful.

Glockster wrote:

Mxrdad wrote:

Alf wrote:

priusron wrote:He has a legal right to fly his drone.

Maybe, if he complies with all applicable FAA regulations, but he doesn't have any legal right to set foot on my property without permission.

He can not fly over "people". If it lands in a backyard, its reasonable to assume there is a house by that back yard. A Homeowner could easily prove that drone should not have been flying there.

And I agree, he has no legal right to set foot on anybodys property without permission. I would have a problem if one of those "Big Ones" landed in my yard. He and I would have to have a serious talk about that. Those "Big Ones" can certainly hurt someone falling from the sky, or easily crack a windshield or other property damage. Now a kid toy? Not a problem. I would gladly give it back to the kid except I would retrieve it in my backyard if I could easily do so. Now if its high up in the tree, I wouldnt let them get it out due to liability. I wouldnt want someone climbing a ladder and risk a fall or other injury. I would let them know its in a tree and if/when it comes down, I'll let ya know.

What is the reference for your "can not fly over people" restriction? I'm unaware of that general restriction so having it would be helpful.

It's part of the FAA rules passed by executive fiat around this time last year IIRC.

jason812 wrote:

carlson1 wrote:Here is a photo of the one my son operates at work.

No need for warrants for police to look in your backyard.

This is the problem I have. I believe sooner than later someone will challenge this or at least I hope they do.