Hello everyone,
I wanted to share a quick story with everyone so that they can be prepared if they have a run in with law enforcement.
I was flying from a park near downtown Tampa which is also near the arena which had a small event going on, no I was not flying right on top of the crowd. However, due to the political content of the event there was a larger than normal police presence for this day/time. A cop spotted me and ran over to me at the time I was landing the phantom. He was being a bit of a tough guy asking me what I was doing, I simply told him I was a hobbyist and asked if I had done anything wrong. He said I shouldn't be flying over the arena as a crowd was nearby (never said one way or the other if I had done something wrong). Then two other officers showed up as backup and one asked to see my ID. Although I am aware I was not obligated to provide it as they never told me what crime I was suspected of, I provided it because I really am a hobbyist not doing anything wrong and didn't feel the need to make this a crappy situation when they were just doing their jobs. One officer started snooping around my phantom bag and I told him he could have a look, at which time he started taking multiple photos of all my equipment with his cell phone. One of the officers then asked me (three times total thought the ordeal) if I was selling the picture/video I was taking. I told them no of course and reminded them I was just a hobbyist. They finally calmed down as I answered all their questions.
At this point I thought the ordeal was over when one of the officers remarks to me "Well, are you going to fly it some more?" I responded, "Is this a trick or something?" They said no as long as I fly in the other direction. So I took off again and they were so amazed asking tons of questions about the app, controls, range, battery life, where I got it, etc, etc. The whole ordeal went from a cop charging at me acting like a tough guy to the 3 of them thanking me at the end!
Bottom line is:
Follow the guidelines (no night flying, 5 miles from an airport, under 400 feet etc.) and apparently do not sell your footage as perhaps you need some type of license to do so?
Cops are curious. It is new to them to and they want to be educated on them.
Here is the link so you can see what type of flying I was doing to attract their attention and you can be the judge.
Thank you,
Jonathan