My wife & I were nearly arrested tonight

[Buk]

It's time to look at the other side of the coin. In may aspects schools are like a business and like a business, employees often work after hours. It's not unusual for a principal/teacher/custodian to put in some extra hours.

A principal/teacher/custodian is charged with protecting and ensuring the safety of the students, staff and visitors to their building within their charge. They are also responsible for the building and grounds of their school. It would not be unusual to find a principal/teacher/custodian protective and perhaps overprotective of buildings and grounds of their school.

Perhaps that day the school had an incident. A child was nearly abducted or the school received word of an abduction at another school and the principal/teacher/custodian was doing their due diligence to protect the children of the school by reporting suspicious activity to the local authorities.

Perhaps the school had been recently vandalized. Again the principal/teacher/custodian was protecting their building, protecting the tax payers' investment by reporting suspicious activity.

A man and women hanging around a school building, whether daytime or nighttime, saying they are going to take aerial photographs of nearby housing development can easily be considered a suspicious activity.

I'm not trying to justify the principal's or the police officers' specific response to that situation, but I can envision many scenarios that would prompt such a response in similar situations. I sure many of the parents of the hundreds of children, who attend that school, could think of many scenarios that might elicit similar responses by the police. A man and women, who have no children attending that school, sitting in a car saying they have verbal permission from a unknown person to take aerial photographs after dark, would be one of those scenarios.

 

[dirkclod]

It's time to look at the other side of the coin.
.

 

[MSTRPC1]

Very nice picture!


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[yorlik]

In anticipation that someday I will deal with one of these ignorant and bored pieces of trash, I always wear a shirt with a pocket. I keep me iPhone in that pocket and the camera peeks out perfectly. If I see something that looks like confrontation comin my way. Just hit record and face it outwards in my shirt pocket. If some punk civilian or one wearing a badge wants to act like a tough guy, I will kill them with kindness then burn them later. No need to argue.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

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[yorlik]

If you do not write a damning letter to the police chief of your city with all the facts listed, you are doing yourself, your country, and the Drone world a major disservice. Gestapoism such as this must be stopped in its tracks. For the public servants the principal and the police to treat you this way on public property that you own as a taxpayer is appalling. Please write this up and send it to your police chief and your city mayor. This kind of misuse of power must be stopped!

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[BigAl07]

You do realize this thread is from 2015? No sense stirring such and old pot when so much has changed.

 

[joet]

You do realize this thread is from 2015? No sense stirring such and old pot when so much has changed.

I disagree. It highlights something important: That flying a drone may draw attention to something wrong you're doing (trespassing) which, in turn, gets turned back on those "irresponsible drone guys who are stalking people and invading privacy" and BAM! - another city enacts an ordinance.

The OP was trespassing, like it or not - the drone aspect is incidental to the story save for the potential damage to the drone community's reputation.

 

[ftttu]

Many cops will use "pretended authority" so they can close out calls in a timely manner. The principal is happy the "trespasser" is gone, and the "trespasser" probably won't cause any more problems for the rest of that shift. It is what plays out all over the world and not just here in the US.

Let's say this incident occurred here in Texas. The officers would probably ask you your business there, and with a response you were flying a drone, I don't think any supervisor or judge would find a problem with an officer building reasonable suspicion to have you identify yourselves. Again, they may ask for positive ID, but that is only a legal demand if traffic law related. You only have to identify yourself by correct name, correct DOB and correct address.

You can rant and rave all day long, but with foreign and domestic terrorist threatening schools, the cops are probably going to get a little more leeway here. After the officers identify you, they may run you for wants and warrants, which is routine. After they are satisfied that you aren't a terrorist and you are there to fly a pesky drone, they can demand you to leave. Their authority is not their authority but the authority of the principal, who has authority of who comes and goes on the property of her school.

To be arrested for criminal trespass here in Texas, someone with authority of the property being trespassed on has to say they want the person criminal charged for the trespass. Even so, the person being charged has to know they aren't supposed to be there basically with oral or written communication, fencing designed to keep a person out or signs. In this scenario, it doesn't say anything about fencing, signs or the principal ordering the droners off the property, so no trespassing has occurred for the officers to act on. If the droners refused to leave, then, with the demand of charges by the principal, the droners can be arrested for criminal trespass.

If anyone wants Texas Criminal Trespass laws, here is the link for the more detailed statute: PENAL CODE CHAPTER 30. BURGLARY AND CRIMINAL TRESPASS

 

[eatpasta]

man people really get a bug up their butt about these quad copters.... it's nuts

 

[AlecW]

I kinda see the principal's side to some degree. 2 people in the parking lot at night that look like they could be casing the joint with a drone. A female on her own would be ill advised to confront two people in the dark. Maybe calling the cops so soon was a mistake but understandable. The cops could have handled it better but cops are like DJI support, you never know what your gonna get

 

[42FrankZ]

Here public school property is still private property, and you can be removed from it without being given a good reason.

 

[ftttu]

Here public school property is still private property, and you can be removed from it without being given a good reason.

Same here in Texas. School administrators, school district police and school district security can order anyone off of school property or face the consequences. I've been called to schools over the years for disturbances like parents arguing with administrators, but I've only had them leave the property with no charges. The statute is always there if it is needed.

Also, other than the regular criminal offense of criminal trespass that we have here in Texas, we have a Class C Misdemeanor (ticket level) offense of Trespass on School Grounds which is regularly used to charge students who are expelled and come back to school for reasons they only know. However, the wording of the statute could be used for the OP's "offense."

 

[m0j0]

Over reach.. not likely to result in arrest. The right thing was to not take off from private property. After that the principle / officer has no standing to interfere.


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[AyeYo]

I realize this is an old thread, but since it's been necromanced... no one seems to have brought up that the OP is doing commercial shooting without (at that time probably a 333) and flying at night without an exemption?

 

[42FrankZ]

I realize this is an old thread, but since it's been necromanced... no one seems to have brought up that the OP is doing commercial shooting without (at that time probably a 333) and flying at night without an exemption?

That sort of thing gets beat to death on other threads... this one is more about the trespass.

 

[MikeK]

Hmmm, don't put money on that idea. It's possible it will dig you in deeper. Wait till the next day and call the police chief or designee to explain the incident. Do it in a cool, concise manner and you'll get farther than you would during the stop

Quite right!

 

[MikeK]

Usually a person would not be trespassing on public property while the business was open. However, in this case it was closed. You'd have a very good argument that there was no notification about this and no one asked you to leave. I'd say it's a flip of the coin. The officer should have politely told you that the principle is asking you to leave and that would have been that. Being rude or threatening you is just a power trip on the officers behalf.

Exactly right. And it seems that sort of thing is becoming more common as American police become more militarized. The situation has increasingly become them vs us.

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

Well if this was in the U.S then yes you could get in trouble. Flying at night without an exemption is against FAA regulations.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Well if this was in the U.S then yes you could get in trouble. Flying at night without an exemption is against FAA regulations.

Who woke this thread up?

Could you show me a source that says it is not OK to fly at night as a hobby flier.
Currently as a commercial operator a permit would be needed, but when this was done there was no such thing in existence.

Hobby rules...

Safety Guidelines

• Fly at or below 400 feet
• Keep your UAS within sight
• Never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports
• Never fly over groups of people
• Never fly over stadiums or sports events
• Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires
• Never fly under the influence
• Be aware of airspace requirements

SOURCE: Fly for Fun

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

Who woke this thread up?

Could you show me a source that says it is not OK to fly at night as a hobby flier.
Currently as a commercial operator a permit would be needed, but when this was done there was no such thing in existence.

You just answered your own question, and I don't know it showed up on my feed as being active.