Technology is improving faster than public policy can keep up, and that fault line is arguably most obvious in the national debate over drones. Supporters point to drones’ efficiency, but others worry about safety and privacy. Some concerned residents turned out to a public hearing in Rockland County Tuesday to suggest some rewording to ensure proposed drone legislation is not overly restrictive.
The public hearing on “The Ensuring Privacy From Drones Law” drew five speakers, including Daniel Berger, director of the Lower Hudson Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“With Rockland County proposing legislation to control the use of drones both by private citizens and law enforcement, we think that has significant Fourth Amendment implications and really First Amendment implications,” Berger says.
Berger says that though other municipalities in the state are considering drone laws, he believes Rockland would be among the first to enact such legislation. Rockland County Legislature Vice Chairman Jay Hood introduced the proposed law.
“I think we’re pretty much on the cutting edge of this and I think we’re getting out in front of it, which I think is really important. And I think the state and the federal government will probably pass laws eventually and ours will be preempted,” Hoods says. “But, for now, we’re going to regulate to a degree that’s reasonable. And I will take all the comments into consideration and I’ll make some changes, and it’ll be fair to everybody, I think.”
The impetus for the legislation came from County Sheriff Louis Falco.
“I wanted a no-fly zone over the top of our correction facility. And that’s how this whole thing started,” says Falco. “And I still feel that being proactive is what I need to do to protect the officers and the public.”
Falco says he wants to prevent illicit uses.
“I have a helicopter pilot that works for me and flies the county helicopter. He also flies for several news stations. And they’ve had a lot of near misses with drones. And when he was doing his research on it, he found that down South, they’ve been using drones to drop contraband, drugs, and knives into correction facilities. And that’s documented,” says Falco. “When he brought this to my attention, I want to be proactive here in Rockland County.”
So Falco approached Hood.
“So he was concerned with that. He brought it to me. And then when we were in committee, I thought about it personally. I said, you know what, I don’t want someone invading my privacy. I don’t want a neighbor or somebody nearby flying this over my property looking at whatever’s going on in my house. So I thought maybe that’s something we should do,” says Hood. “And so we took it a step further and said you can only fly over your own property, which is very reasonable, I think. You shouldn’t be allowed over someone else’s property without their permission. And that’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Nanuet resident Vinnie Garrison has a concern.
“I operate a business that specializes in aerial videography/photography,” says Garrison. “I fly drones for weddings, real estate, promotional footage that companies hire me for. And this law doesn’t allow me to fly where I need to fly.”
Jose Restrepo is a New City resident and member of a New York Drone User Group. He’s concerned that even his 6-year-old niece’s favorite toy would fly in the face of the regulation.
“One of the biggest toys that was around for Christmas was this small, little fairy remote-control toy. And basically what you do is you put your hand up and it recognizes your hand and it flies up and down, and she loves it,” says Restrepo. “But the way the law is crafted currently, unfortunately, that would be something that would be hindering the law. And I’m all for legislation that’s commonsense and I just want to make sure that the law is correctly set up so that it takes into account these things.”
Hood says he is amenable to making some changes, including about the flying fairy.
“I think the first thing is about the fairy flying with the little remote control, like a little toy,” says Hood. “I think we can do a size thing or the features of it. Maybe we can redefine it a little bit to take that out of play.”
The NYCLU’s Berger says there are two major issues.
“One concerns the use of drones by private citizens,” says Berger. “And so we want to make sure that any regulations are drafted in a limited fashion that allows for protected First Amendment activity, allows for hobbyists, while also controlling potentially dangerous activity.”
And here’s the second issue.
“On the other side, there’s the use of drones by law enforcement,” Berger says. “And while this proposal requires that law enforcement obtain a search warrant, it fails to include any kind of penalties should law enforcement fail to get that warrant, any kind of administrative penalties that would apply or providing civil remedies for people that may have evidence obtained against them illegally.”
Hood says that after revising the proposed law based on comments during the public hearing, he expects the legislation to come up for a vote in the next month or two.
