State officials from the Capital Region are introducing legislation to limit areas where drones can fly.
After an October 12th incident where a drone flew over Eagle Elementary School in Delmar without permission while students were inside, New York Assemblywoman Pat Fahy and state Senator Neil Breslin are proposing legislation that would prevent drones from flying near so-called critical infrastructure.
Fahy, a Democrat whose 109th District used to include the town of Bethlehem, says it comes at a point of high tensions following shootings in Maine and the war in Israel.
“Very few are feeling safe these days. So the fact that we could have a drone flying over the school, an unauthorized drone, over school grounds and other critical infrastructure without any authorization really made us jump, quite frankly,” Fahy said.
The bill would place limits on drones up to 400 feet; above is regulated by the FAA.
The same drone also flew over Slingerlands Elementary that same day and was identified as belonging to a local real estate firm.
Bethlehem Central School Superintendent Jody Monroe says the lack of regulation flies in the face of the school’s privacy and safety efforts.
“All school districts in New York state, including ours are required to have both a district level safety plan and building-level emergency response plans. These response plans which include maps of each school are required to remain confidential. They are not posted online, and they are not shared widely due to the sensitive nature of their content, including the detailed maps they contain. To find out that a licensed drone operator could map the layout of any school at any time has been deeply unsettling,” Monroe said.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says it’s an unintended consequence as technology outpaces regulation.
“Many people have become enthusiasts, and they now go out. These are relatively inexpensive. This one right here isn't all that much money, that one we won't talk about. But they, you know, for a couple of hundred dollars, you can get a decent drone, actually, for less than $100. You can get a toy to go out, but still map the same coverage that something very expensive will map. And this is something where we need to protect our infrastructure, especially our most valuable and vulnerable infrastructure, which is housed in these buildings behind us, right, our kids. So we want to keep our kids safe,” Apple said.
Bethlehem Police Chief Gina Cocchiara says the incident was a huge red flag.
“When we think about crime, we, you know, we're always trying to, you know, stop the crime before it happens,” Cocchiara said.
Cocchiara says the capability of this drone wasn’t known, adding to the risk, since some are capable of carrying objects, such as explosives.
Deputy Sheriff Joe Guice, one of the Bethlehem PD’s drone pilots, says there are acceptable uses for drones, including search and rescue.
“We also use them for our emergency management unit. We can map areas, especially when we had some flooding going on. We were able to go out and map Ice, ice jams, water levels, we could fly it, map it and then fly it again to see if it's going down how much we can use it for crash reconstruction if need be. Obviously, we can use them for if someone takes off and runs into the woods, we can try to locate them with the thermal imaging cameras and stuff like that, too,” Guice said.
Many drones are geofenced, meaning maps built into them control where they can fly, but not all. Guice adds the FAA is working on transponders that would remotely identify new drones, including the owner’s name and location.
All drones over 2.55 grams are already required to be registered, but Guice says this is a good additional step.
“A pilot could be a half a mile away. And you know, even though he's not supposed to fly out of his visual sight, they're flying, you know, half mile away, and you have no idea where they are,” Guice said.
A spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the Democrat would consider the legislation should it be passed by both houses of the legislature.
