Drones are posing novel issues for police. They are widely available, lightly regulated and can be flown remotely by an operator far away from the crime scene. They have been put to many nefarious uses, from smuggling contraband into prisons to swarming FBI agents preparing for a raid. Local and state authorities are restricted by federal law from intercepting drones in flight, potentially even when a crime is in progress, though that has yet to be tested in court, the New York Times reports. Arthur Holland Michel of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College says, “They create all kinds of headaches for law enforcement.” State regulation has been very piecemeal or reactive to specific cases, said law Prof. Hillary Farber of the University of Massachusetts School of Law.
Drones have been widely available to the general public for about five years. The Federal Aviation Administration counts 1.5 million registered commercial and recreational drones in the U.S., which does not account for the many unregistered or homemade drones. When a drone is flown in a crime, it leaves the authorities little to go on unless they are able to get hold of the machine. Even if a drone is recovered and dissected by experts, if it is homemade, it may prove impossible to trace to an owner. Commercially manufactured drones are typically made largely of plastic and run on battery power, so they do not give off much heat or show up strongly on radar. The FAA. has primary authority over what happens in the air. A flight is generally legal if the drone is registered and displays its registration number, weighs under 55 pounds, stays within 400 feet of the ground and avoids crowded places like stadiums or restricted areas like airports.