AMA Recommends Members To Not Register Until Deadline
- Thread starter LuvMyTJ
- Start date
There have been a few incidents on this forum where police have approached a drone pilot and said that he/she is responding to a complaint of (peeping/spying/invasion of privacy) from someone who claimed the drone was hovering in their (yard/window).
The pilot has then shown the LEO the videos they just shot, proving they did none of the above.
Police apologize and let them go on their way.
Being polite and respectful is certainly wise and always recommended, whether talking to a cop or anyone. However, if suspected of any crime, it is always best to shut up.
Sorry, I forget about the P1, I also have one and fly it without a camera.
But my P3, 3DR Iris+, 3DR Solo and Yuneec Q500 all have the ability to show my flight path on my phone (or on the Yuneec Q500 radio which has a built in screen), and it time and date stamps it. It looks like a satellite map, with the flight path marked on it - I'm quite sure a cop would be able to make sense of it.
Are people expecting to fly more recklessly due to drone registration? I mean in the nearly 3 years I've been on drone forums, I only know of two people who had their drones confiscated by the police. One is the guy who taunts police in all of his YouTube videos, I forget both his real name and his YouTube cop hater name? He flew over a battleship that was open for tours (but not for drone flights), and the Navy (I believe) confiscated his drone. If I remember correctly the courts didn't give it back either.
The other guy posted his story on here - he flew over someone who was famous and filmed them, the police confiscated his drone. He came here looking for help, was put in touch with an attorney who advised him to remove his posts from here and not talk about it anymore until after it had gone to court - never saw any followup after that, but my impression was this was paparazzi with a drone - I may be wrong about that part. He didn't share much detail of what happened even before the attorney advised him to remove the thread and not talk about it. Makes me very curious...lol.
Just a reminder. I'm sure you are aware of the many threads of late that have turned into fight-fest.
I agree that you should clam up if LE advises you of you Rights. In the scenario described earlier, Rights Advisement would most likely NOT be the first thing the Officer would do. They will want to get both sides of the story before arrest, advisement, and search & seizure. But, again every person has to decide for themselves how they would handle it. This has been a good exchange, I have enjoyed it. Of course the best course of action is not to fly over other peoples property in the first place. <GRIN>
You are correct the likelihood of a cop understanding it without explanation is low at least for now. That said, today's LE has a lot of exposure to technology. Due to efforts of the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces and other programs LE are getting trained/briefed on how to properly identify, handle, and seizure digital evidence. The younger the Officer the more tech savy they may be, heck they may even be UAV pilots themselves.
I think we may have gotten of the main topic of the thread - for that I apologize to the OP.
GadgetGuy
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Agreeing that you "intend" to follow the safety guidelines (which by definition are clearly not FAA Rules) is not the same as you "shall" follow the safety guidelines. You can intend to follow them at the time of registration, and legally change your mind, and choose to ignore the VLOS safety guideline, once you realize that it is only a safety guideline and not a compulsory FAA Rule, with sanctions, as long as you also are not flying recklessly. Flying below 400 feet is also not specific enough, which is why it is a poorly written guideline. FAA Rules regarding air traffic separation are very specific that all specified heights are AGL (Above Ground Level), which is not part of this Safety Guideline, but absolutely should be! What is the point of education through Safety Guidelines, if the guidelines themselves only add to the confusion, and do not educate the public on the difference between MSL and AGL and elevation relative to your launch point? For the record, all DJI elevations displayed in the DJI GO app are only relative to your launch point, which is irrelevent to the FAA, as they are only concerned with AGL! Yet I'll bet less than 5% of DJI owners know this, and understand the repercussions, and know that they must use a topo map and know their above MSL launch elevation to arrive at a correct AGL over their entire flight path! The world is not flat!
The FAA will tell you that you are flying recklessly if you are flying BLOS over ANY populated area.Agreeing that you "intend" to follow the safety guidelines (which by definition are clearly not FAA Rules) is not the same as you "shall" follow the safety guidelines. You can intend to follow them at the time of registration, and legally change your mind, and choose to ignore the VLOS safety guideline, once you realize that it is only a safety guideline and not a compulsory FAA Rule, with sanctions, as long as you also are not flying recklessly. Flying below 400 feet is also not specific enough, which is why it is a poorly written guideline. FAA Rules regarding air traffic separation are very specific that all specified heights are AGL (Above Ground Level), which is not part of this Safety Guideline, but absolutely should be! What is the point of education through Safety Guidelines, if the guidelines themselves only add to the confusion, and do not educate the public on the difference between MSL and AGL and elevation relative to your launch point? For the record, all DJI elevations displayed in the DJI GO app are only relative to your launch point, which is irrelevent to the FAA, as they are only concerned with AGL! Yet I'll bet less than 5% of DJI owners know this, and understand the repercussions, and know that they must use a topo map and know their above MSL launch elevation to arrive at a correct AGL over their entire flight path! The world is not flat!
Because you are.
If they can win, and proceed to get the new requirement nullified, then the system gets dismantled and we all go on our merry way.
And if you believe that's going to happen.....................................
GadgetGuy
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Sorry, but I don't care about your opinion...
It's carries zero weight with anyone except you!
Enjoy your AMA membership and AMA VLOS Rules!
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It is no different from your opinions you have posted. I bet many people here don't care about your opinions either. You have littered this forum for far to long. You are making sensationalistic post with non-factual information. Around here we call that trolling. Do not post in this thread or any other unless you can make constructive, factual, on topic post. I'm tired of this.Sorry, but I don't care about your opinion...
dirkclod
Premium Pilot
The AMA has failed as a group and orginization. I was once a faithful member and club president. I watched members leave the orginization time and time again. While I won't rehash my problems with the AMA, the are again failing modelers by not educating people and the public in general. Things are at the point were we are witch hunted by the media. Yet the media is just as guilty of using these tools as the rest of us. the situation will get worse before it gets better.. this is just the beginning
Show me where that can "demand"... they can "ask" but they can not "order" you to produce it... What part of non-consensual searches do you not understand. In some states you must produce identification and this would be in STATE statue and not FED rules... This is NOT an identification. Your local popo can NOT enforce FAA rules (unless it a state or local saute and the FAA is clear that airspace is theirs to enforce).. They can "ask" and that can word it like you must... If you do show them when that "ask" you have just given a consensual search.
From the link you provided.
However, other law enforcement processes, such as arrest and detention or non-consensual searches almost always fall outside of the allowable methods to pursue administrative enforcement actions by the FAA unless they are truly a byproduct of a state criminal investigation.
So roll over and give the popo everything they ask for and give up your rights... So many people just don't know their rights its sicking.
Yes the AMA did fail...
Now when the ATFE screwed with the rocker folks NAR and TRIPIL kicked some butt and WON... And those 2 combined are nowhere as big as the AMA...
And some people need to take some civics classes....
Local law enforcement officers arrest people for Federal offenses daily.
Drugs are a Federal crime enforced at the local level, as are many others.
Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona has become a household name because of how this local sheriff dealt with Federal crimes.
Want to bet there's a sate statue that they are using for the arrest... ALSO they are NOT charged in a federal court... and they are NOT held or serve time in a federal prison... They are held and charged in local and state courts and jails. State and local courts do not prosecute FEDERAL laws... Civics 100... Not ever 101... Then again it would seem you know more than me...
And if you follow good ol' Joe you will see that the feds are seeking FEDERAL charges for him over stepping his bounds. On immigration he can NOT deport... He CAN NOT prosecute... he can only detain and hand over to the feds... If he has a reason to detain using laws on a state level... Again the feds are looking at him... he is NOT enforcing federal laws... He is a wind bag grandstanding piss-ant.
But once again I don't know as much as you...
Hmm, you seem to confuse LEO making arrests for Federal laws, and Federal Courts used for prosecution? Yes, Local LE makes the arrest, and it is tried at a Federa level in a Federal court.
I don't pretend to know more than anyone, but I can use Google better than some, it seems:
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5183&context=faculty_scholarship
State Enforcement of Federal Law | NYU Law Review
If you'd also like links to 3 different local drone pilots who are facing fines over a grand ($1K) each for failing to fly within the safety guidelines - none of which are being prosecuted by the FAA, I can provide those too.
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