On Monday, President Biden‘s administration requested Congress’ assistance in allowing additional law enforcement agencies access to drone monitoring technology.
Government use of counter-drone technologies has been increasingly contentious in recent months, after a request from a Ukrainian government official for DJI to block Russia’s access to its AeroScope drone locating system.
The White House’s blueprint of the “Domestic Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems National Action Plan” asked on Congress to “reauthorize” the power provided to agencies such the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Defense, and State to track drones. (The CIA and NASA also have limited powers, according to the plan.)
The statement also requests Congress to grant state, municipal, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies, as well as “critical infrastructure owners and operators,” additional drone detection authorities. State and municipal governments have never had access to these sorts of technologies previously.
The plan calls for a pilot programme involving select state, local, and tribal agencies to work on drone mitigation and detection, as well as allowing “critical infrastructure owners and operators” to “purchase authorised equipment to be used by appropriate Federal or [state, local, and tribal] law enforcement agencies to protect their facilities.”
It would also establish a database for all government departments to document drone-related occurrences and produce a list of approved drone detecting devices (it currently has a list of drones permitted for government usage).
It’s important remembering that these are only suggestions from the administration at this stage, not legislation that are in the works.
Without Biden’s assistance, Congress may have enacted legislation to “address major loopholes in current law and policy” regarding drones, according to the White House fact sheet.
Officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, on the other hand, have expressed support for the concept.
Drones have been under greater scrutiny by the US government for some time. The FAA enacted new rules in 2021 that require any new drones to broadcast the operator’s position, as well as an identifying number that law enforcement may look up and details about the drone’s flight.
Starting in September, it will be nearly impossible to operate a drone without such characteristics; one year later, it will be nearly impossible.
It’s reasonable that some drone pilots are concerned about the privacy implications of their local police department gaining access to technology that tracks not just drones but also the individuals who operate them.
To read our blog on “‘We’ll see,’ Biden says on Russia’s intent to scale back Ukraine war” click here.