Hey everyone. I am trying to get my jurisdiction to approve the purchase of a drone. As the GIS admin it has its obvious uses for that as well as for the other departments. My question is tho does anyone here have experience using a drone in their day to day in Code work? I know its a growing field, and there is still questions regading the legalities of what can and cannot be done by a drone as it pertains to privacy issues. Curious to know what everyone has to say.

@Jerod Watson This is a very interesting topic and I couldn't hold back from joining in.  To begin with, I do not use an Unmanned Aircraft (UA aka Drone) in our daily operations but I have supported other departments with it.  However, I am a Licensed Remote Pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and it is something that I take very serious.  During the operation of a UA, safety is paramount and there is an astronomical rate of people who discount, in their opinion, the need to obtain a license by the FAA with the REMOTE PILOT designation.  In my opinion every jurisdiction should have a Drone at the ready "just because" of the versatility it can bring to the table.  I'll be more than happy to assist you with your proposal if needed even if it is from a GIS point-of-view only.  Of course, we can throw some other points in as well to raise the bar!

As of today, the use of an Unmanned Aircraft is the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration and they were required to integrate Drones into the National Airspace through the Modernization and Reform Act, as you probably already know.  Yes, that is correct....National Airspace right? Righhhttt!  The issue at hand your jurisdiction may present to the Code Enforcement Department as a hurdle will be the Fourth Amendment.  Legal research indicates, that I have conducted, Cities will face opposition as the argument would be the possibility of us performing unlawful searches.  In our line of business, a concerned Citizen may argue that we performed an "search" without their consent.   Perhaps, would a signed Consent Form change the game?  Possibly!  However, that would be subject to Open Records Requests as well and I am sure jurisdictions would love those extra requests! 

On the other hand, if we deem an "ariel observation" as one that doesn't involves the matter of "reasonable expectation of privacy", we can possibly win every time depending on how we perform the "ariel observation" and what type of technology the UA/Drone was using during the inspection in addition to other parameters.  For example, on aerials the County provide you never see Mrs. Smith in the swimming pool OR Mr. Smith near the deep end of the pool with his jar of lemonade in the donut sprinkled floatie.  As a matter of fact the images are a result of Pictometry and not videos of any sort. There are guidelines that govern what a "search" is VS what an "aerial observation" is.  As of today, a Recreational Drone Operator could get away with MUCH MORE that what a Part 107 FAA Licensed Remote Pilot on an official mission wouldn't be able to. Of course, there is always something we will be able to get away with as well that a Rec Drone Operator wouldn't be able to.  It is awesome when someone is flying recreational in the neighborhood, but it becomes less attractive when we are actually flying on "Official Business".  The tone changes at that point and it is no longer awesome sauce!  Once the regulations are able to slightly align with each other more across the United States, in comparison to Manned Aircraft regulations while in National Airspace, it will be game on!  I do see this happening in the very near future, in my opinion.  All it takes is one person to kick this off and you may be the one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2024 at 12:45 AMMay 7, 2024 by Cal Ford

Thank you very much for the info. I have looked a lot into the legality of this and its Fourth Amendment implications. Its still very new specifically in the field of code enforcement, I know that manned aircraft above 400 ft can make admissible observations bc at that height there is no reasonable expectation of privacy at least that's how I interpret what I have read so far. Obviously it has MANY other uses for other departments as well, was just curious if anyone had already started using them in situations directly implicating code enforcement. As of this reply I have researched and gotten quotes to tune in for budget proposals so fingers crossed we can get it approved.

@Jerod Watson That is great! You will get it approved and let us know so we can throw a drone party! I would also like to know if anyone uses them for observations.  Thanks for bringing up the hot Topic and you asked a great question!