Police stopped me

[SteveT777]

Pasadena just passed a municipal code against drone flying. Los Angeles has had one for most of 2017. There is a local beach city that also has one but I don't remember which one. These are directed towards the hobbiest.

 

[Jiggly-Wiggly]

By your account, you took a hostile stance with the police officer. For what purpose? To prove that you knew more about FAA rules and regulations? The man was just trying to do his job.

When people take the attitude that they have a constitutional right to fly anywhere, we end up with laws completely ban their usage. Legally speaking, drone flying is new ground. Laws are still being worked out. When the laws are written, privacy, trespassing, and public safety will count for more than the FAA's ownership of the air. Right now, we do not have a clear and consistent definition of what that is

I did not take a "hostile" stance with a cop. We engaged in a polite but firm discussion about that exactly constitutes "theoretical danger" of drones. He seemed to think that flying 75 ft. above a person's head was "dangerous" and I disagreed.

You are treading on thin ice when you start thinking you have no Constitutional right to debate a cop about laws and regulations that he is very uneducated about. That is Communist style kowtowing you see in countries like North Korea where the Dear Leader can NEVER be questioned about anything. That's why I live in America and my freedom of speech is protected by law.

 

[AirMan05446]

I guess the main point of my post is that the police need to be more polite and take a lighter approach towards us instead of getting right up in our face and citing fake FAA drone regs just so they can intimidate people enjoying a legal hobby. What is so wrong about a cop just walking up and saying "Hello sir, I respectfully ask you to not fly your drone here today because we have a sanctioned event with a large crowd of people who would rather just focus on the sporting competition. You're welcome to come back and fly when the event is over." There is no need to send an undercover detective to verbally intimidate a drone enthusiast for 15 min. and spout falsehoods about FAA regulations and fines. That just breeds further contempt of police by the law-abiding public, and police don't have a very good PR image as it is.

From your previous posts, if I was a cop in your town I'd be looking for a reason to bust you.

 

[randun41]

This thread is spiraling into an area we are NOT going to allow. Get back on track, stop the personal attacks, and find ways to debate cordially or you might get a break for a while.

While I wholeheartedly agree with this post, I don't understand how you could also "like" post #23 , which in my opinion does exactly what you say NOT to do.

 

[N017RW]

While I wholeheartedly agree with this post, I don't understand how you could also "like" post #23 , which in my opinion does exactly what you say NOT to do.

Report it.
I believe the posts are about 3 hours apart. Mods are individuals and volunteers and can't be expexted to be on-line 24/7 or read every post in every thread.

 

[AirMan05446]

While I wholeheartedly agree with this post, I don't understand how you could also "like" post #23 , which in my opinion does exactly what you say NOT to do.

Are you serious? This guy goes on a political rant and MY POST is the problem? Have you read JigglyWiggly's post history? Why don't you read up and get back to me?

 

[AirMan05446]

I did not take a "hostile" stance with a cop.

You said you gave him the finger when he told you you couldn't fly in the park, then and you smiled at him as he fumed at you while you were flying from over the park across the street. Not hostile?

 

[JetFalcon]

So it seem like cops don't really know what the laws are, but want to enforce something. To the point they wasted 15-20 minutes of my time forcing me to wait for their FAA person, who was really just a detective. I don't think the detective they made me wait for knew all the rules, he just knew there were some heliports nearby, but he didn't seem like someone associated with the FAA. They kept saying they wanted to make sure I wasn't a terrorist.

The police asked me if it was registered, I said yes, and they didn't even know what to do to ensure it was registered. They just took my word. The way I registered, it seems more like I got a number in the email and wasn't that official. All it seem to do was generate some number and that was it, I could have put a fake name in there. Not as official as the way you get a drivers license.

Do I have to stay if the police makes me, what if I just said I want to leave and just left? Because they made me wait 15-20 minutes because they wanted their detective to be there. They could have just told me to land it and not make a big deal out of it, but they forced me to wait around because they couldn't figure out how to deal with drone laws.

 

[blackcrusader]

Well there is no legal requirement for the Drone to be registered in the USA.

 

[tcope]

You said you gave him the finger when he told you you couldn't fly in the park, then and you smiled at him as he fumed at you while you were flying from over the park across the street. Not hostile?

Perhaps that post was edited. As of right now, there is no mention of that.

But I really don't see the point in discussing what should or should not have been said in that case since the OP had nothing to do with that. I am a supported of people needing to stick up for their rights. However, how they do that is up to them. Some protest more so than others. But history has shown that it's some times needed.

IMHO, the best bet is to attempt some degree of education at the location, even film it if desired. You can then take it up with a superior at a later date.

 

[ianwood]

I am having deja vu. We had a thread almost exactly like this before. Same type of event. Same response.

Bottom line is you cannot fly near events with large groups of people. It's really that simple. If you do and the FAA finds out, they will likely make an example of you as they have others.

 

[Kong]

There is never a problem at Huntington Beach on a normal day. You were stopped because of flying "over/near" a Major Sanctioned Sporting Event. The city "owns the beach/pier" they can dictate the rules as they see fit.

And yes... the permit seeker may request that drone activity operating from the beach within the permit area, be limited to their approved operators only for both safety, and copyright / usage concerns.

Best point, I think. If the city owns the pier, then they can prevent one from landing and taking off from there. Each control point one picks may have their own restrictions, like national park or private property. The air space over it has it's own restrictions or none. The whole thing is getting trickier.

 

[BigAl07]

While I wholeheartedly agree with this post, I don't understand how you could also "like" post #23 , which in my opinion does exactly what you say NOT to do.

Let's take this up in a PM as opposed to derailing this thread any further.

 

[N017RW]

So it seem like cops don't really know what the laws are, but want to enforce something. To the point they wasted 15-20 minutes of my time forcing me to wait for their FAA person, who was really just a detective. I don't think the detective they made me wait for knew all the rules, he just knew there were some heliports nearby, but he didn't seem like someone associated with the FAA. They kept saying they wanted to make sure I wasn't a terrorist.

The police asked me if it was registered, I said yes, and they didn't even know what to do to ensure it was registered. They just took my word. The way I registered, it seems more like I got a number in the email and wasn't that official. All it seem to do was generate some number and that was it, I could have put a fake name in there. Not as official as the way you get a drivers license.

Do I have to stay if the police makes me, what if I just said I want to leave and just left? Because they made me wait 15-20 minutes because they wanted their detective to be there. They could have just told me to land it and not make a big deal out of it, but they forced me to wait around because they couldn't figure out how to deal with drone laws.

With regards to your last paragraph... are you asking if you have to comply with Police directives?

LOL!

 

[AirMan05446]

Perhaps that post was edited. As of right now, there is no mention of that.

It's from a previous post about dealing with authorities:
Dont Bother Bringing to Zion RV Park

Image — Postimage.org


This guys clearly has a bug up his butt over police and authority figures in general. Read his other posts and you'll see how far the reservation this guy is.

So him saying cops need to improve how they deal with the public... that's a laugh.

 

[dirkclod]

It's from a previous post about dealing with authorities:
Image — Postimage.org

Thank You for finding that as I knew he had said it .
I just couldn't find it .
Now back to OP's topic

 

[Neon Euc]

A few things here that I may have missed or picked up

1) was the OP flying over water or the actual beech?

2) is there a law that says you can't fly over the sea in USA? (only asking as I live in London, England)

3) I can understand not being allowed to not fly over crowds of people. That makes sense. But was it because the organizers of the event called the cops more for the "copyright" of filming the event rather then the actual flying?

Def need more details for this. I understand the frustration of how the OP may have been dealt with, but pretty sure their is more to it then this

 

[N017RW]

Only the OP can provide those details for you. Try PM-ing him.

 

[Neon Euc]

Nah

 

[andyimages]

As a 30 year professional photographer I have faced these problems without drones........