Arrest of Man Flying Drone Prompts Court Case, Judge Rules Against Banning Drones in Parks

Arrest of Man Flying Drone Prompts Court Case, Judge Rules Against Banning Drones in Parks

With drones more prevalent in society with every passing day, legislation and regulation of their use is never far behind. However, chalk one up for Team Drones; a U.S judge has ruled against banning the use of drones in a state's parks.

In December 2018, firefighter and drone pilot Jason Harrison was arrested and had his DJI Mavic confiscated by local police after flying it in a park in Michigan. He challenged this arrest as unlawful and it sparked a three-month-long legal battle between Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators (MCDO) and Genesee County, Flint, who had moved to have drones banned from being used in local parks.

Last week on 10th February 2020, Honorable Judge Joseph Farah ruled in favor of the MCDO and against legislation restricting the use of drones in parks. While it's still early days in lawmaking surrounding drone use, we are seeing more and more cases and scandals globally. Many tourist hotspots, like in Iceland for instance, have an outright ban against using drones whether you have a license or not. Many countries are looking to move more towards that sort of control. California already bans drone use in many public parks. The U.K is moving in the same direction too, with registration and a theory test now mandatory for pilots, amateur and professional alike.

Do you think drone usage should be controlled outside of national airspace? Should the flying of drones in public parks be banned? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Robert K Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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Yes, but ordinances can be modified. Deliveries to public parks would be rather scarce, don't you think? ;-) It's not going to affect the likes of Amazon at all.

The world is changing. You can indeed get Shipt to deliver groceries to a park, UberEats to deliver to a park bench, and you will have to very much expect that Amazon will in time delivery a new laptop to you at a picnic table.

You're correct. Corporate Imperialism will do what it wants, and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it.

I should add that I have nothing against people flying drones. I see them regularly and their noise, which is indeed not that much, is simply added to the din of the city. But don't delude yourself into thinking you can't hear them. They're regularly flown in parking lots, empty baseball fields, and the like.

National parks is a different story. Even local parks, really. But everyone wants convenience, right?

Don't think that Amazon drones are going to be quiet tho. They're going to be designed to carry more payload than a Mavic. Better get used to a city full of endless buzzing. ;-)

If each city, county, village, and township had different drone laws, this would affect the likes of amazon.

I was referring mostly to public spaces like parks, but remember most local politicians cater to corporate overlords. ;-)

I also do not want to listen to drones buzzing overhead while I am trying to enjoy nature.

However, I’m surprised with the number of commenters who think the ban was appropriate. This is a county park system with over 11,000 acres and more than 100 parks. The two locations where rangers were enforcing the ban were an orv off road park frequented by mud trucks and motorcycles and a location with a live steam locomotive. Neither of these locations are pristine, quite, or have special wildlife considerations.

State Law is clear that local government SHALL NOT enact or enforce any rules or regulations pertaining to the ownership or operation of unmanned aircraft.

This is a big win for the drone community and a win for photography in general.

Drones are a plague and I'm confident the vast majority of people do NOT want them in public spaces, period - not just parks.

So-called "drone pilots" can go back to online gaming.

Ok Boomer

Not true about California banning drones in parks. I regularly fly mine with rangers and police always curious to the model and how they operate. As well as no laws on the books currently ban the use as well. Fact checking is important.

yes it is truth the normal response to drone observed is normally apprehension. drone presence reception is tainted by exaggerations of adversarial application such as "kill" operative as witnessed of turkish militia weapontry marvel. the remoteness of such application being utilized in our free society, has skewed receptive utilitarian as well as recreational drone endeavors. our govt stance is one of caution yet obliging. their interest is meaningful since past drone incidents do potentially merit needs of drone accountability and scrutiny.
the drone delivers both usefulness and unusefulness.
as can be seen, it is the unusefulness (ruin) that paranoia's resists.

As a Professional cameraman and licensed FAA Airman I think we should have the right to fly and share amazing photos and videos of our national treasures so people who can’t for one reason or another can enjoy sights only a few can experience. With the proper training and license most all of the Airmen ( Pilots ) are very responsible as well as traceable. It’s the weekend warriors who buy toys and fly without a care in the world that makes them dangerous and annoying so these people should be limited to designated areas and should be required to complete safety courses so it’s a very mixed bag of worms. I don’t think it should be 100% banned but it should and will be regulated for safety reasons . Most national parks are already no fly zones as well as small urban park’s. I only hope as a professional I don’t loose my rights to fly and capture amazing places so other can marvel in the beauty. The sad part is big brother the government will punish everyone for the actions of a few weekend warriors just doing bad things. Until then I will legally fly and share the images with the world .

no drones in parks is beyond stupid , first its the safest place its not going to ruin the park its like saying dont drive o the highway because u might crash or die , its just parks trying to have control and find a way t make money , drowns are harmless people dont like them because people hate what they dont have or scared of what they dont no ,

Drones are not banned in Iceland, thats a complete fabrication. I am a professional drone operator in Iceland and there is no law banning them. They are not allowed in some tourist spots, but there’s no law to enforce it. And you can get a permit from the land owner if its a pro shoot. Downtown Reykjavik is a no fly zone because of the local airport that is very close to the city center

Here in my community the local politicians posted an ordnance that banned drone operators (licensed or not) from landing or taking off or controlling drones while in the city's parks. This means I can stand outside the park boundary and fly my drone anywhere within the park (as long as I maintain visual sight). How silly! A police officer friend couldn't believe it! Those who are not licensed don't know and don't care endanger the park's attendees, and the licensed operators who do know and follow the rules are penalized. How can it possibly be enforced? Soon kids will have to be at or above the age of 13 to operate a drone AND required to have passed a knowledge test about airspace restrictions, etc. Those younger than 13 will have to be accompanied by a licensed individual 13 or older according to the proposed FAA rules. It's the uninformed, rogue drone operators who are scary. I personally have a private pilot's license that I've had for 37 years and a drone license, so if I screw up while flying my drone it will affect my "real" pilot's license, something that I will never allow to happen. There is no one more sensitive to the rogue drone operators than those who have the Part 107 drone operator license. The vast majority of us believe that the rogue operators make all operators look bad. These days you almost cannot see a movie or a commercial on television filmed without drone footage, so drones are here to stay. Unfortunately, many of the public are convinced that drones can be weaponized, spy on private homes, etc. but I believe that this sort of thing is rare. Just my two cents' worth.