Police in the UK will soon be able to ground and seize drones from pilots
Jan 30, 2020
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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On January 27th, the British parliament heard and debated a bill (for the second time) which gives police and prison authorities more powers to be able to deal with what they see as problem drones. Officially, this means drones that they believe are posing a public safety risk or are flying illegally.
The bill is aimed at those flying around no-fly zones, flying too close to people and buildings and illegal commercial operations. The prison system will also likely welcome the new power, as it will help them to minimise drone-delivered contraband.
The Transport Minister, Baroness Vere, has made a statement to help put regular law-abiding drone pilots minds at ease.
Drones have incredible potential, whether that’s by transforming how we move goods around or saving lives in search and rescue missions. Most people using drones want to do so responsibly, and we encourage them to familiarise themselves with the law. We are confident these police powers will be used proportionately to both deter careless drone use and to tackle serious, malicious criminal activity.
– Baroness Vere, Transport Minister
Naturally, there will those that won’t be reassured and will see this as the police having more power to screw with our lives. And who could blame them given a history of things being misused and abused, like the now-repealed (as it was ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights) Section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act?
UK Security Minister, Brandon Lewis, though, believes that this will help to protect legitimate drone pilots, by helping to deter or punish the bad ones.
This bill is a vital part of the government’s strategy to tackle the illegitimate use of drones and protect the UK’s growing drone industry. For the UK to establish itself as a global leader in this exciting technology it is vital that police have the powers to crack down on those who intend to use drones to cause harm or disruption.
– Brandon Lewis, Security Minister
In theory, it sounds great, to be honest. And it should work for drones the same way it currently does for cars and other road vehicles. And they specifically state in the announcement that photographers and filmmakers using drones within the law are all fine. As for the reality… Well, exactly how it’ll work in the real world, whether it’s wielded as intended or becomes a tool for abuse, remains to be seen.
You can read the complete announcement on Gov.uk.
Do you think this is a good idea? Bad? Should other parts of the world do something similar or is it too open to abuse?
[via DroneDJ]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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6 responses to “Police in the UK will soon be able to ground and seize drones from pilots”
tl;dr the bill, but guess that owners of noname or DIY drones will probably say “GROUND MY @SS!”. And – if it takes authorities as long as the brexit to actually implement that bill in reality, I’m not too concerned. And, hey: Who/what is Great Britain after all? SCNR & ;-) Long story short: Nothing beats common sense.
Even though I am in Canada, if a law like that was made here and actually enforced, for a responsible drone pilot like myself, it would be welcomed as long as the law wasn’t abused by the police. There are a lot of irresponsible drone owners out there and something needs to be done as it has made it harder for us responsible ones to fly as they keep increasing and add more and more No Fly Zones and eventually it will get to the point unless something is done, the only place we’ll be able to fly a drone is in our own homes.
A wellcome, ground and lock up the bad one.
Not for it at all and I am a law abiding citizen.
I can guarantee many police officers will abuse this power. I’m not saying all but the good cops do not weed out the bad ones.
I never want a law that infringes on anyone’s property rights. Even if I’m law abiding.
What happens when a non-informed cop says I’m taking ur drone for x. It would happen and it would happen often.
Bad guys dropping contraband into prisons will not stop. Bad guys don’t abide by the law. The will steal another drone and keep going.
Depends on what the local laws are and whether or not the operator is following them.
Police have already been taking peoples’ cameras and phones away and telling them they don’t have a right to video them, lets add this to the list of abuses. Ironic they talk about how it’s similar with cars, the police sit in, what are designed to be emergency turn around lanes on highways giving out tickets. No abuse going on there.