AURORA | Aurora drone users will be able to keep flying high without much municipal oversight for the foreseeable future, city council members decided at a recent council policy committee meeting.
City Council’s Public Safety Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Francoise Bergan, decided against pursuing any new, Aurora-specific regulations for drones, or “unmanned aircraft systems,” at its regular April 20 meeting.
“I don’t see any need for that,” Councilman Bob LeGare, who also sits on the committee, said of drafting additional rules on drones.
The city will continue to defer to the regulations set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration, including those pertaining to licenses, types of aircraft and size restrictions, officials said.
Currently, non-commercial drone operators over the age of 13 do not need to obtain any sort of pilot’s license, but must register their machine — which must be lighter than 55 pounds — for $5 with the FAA, according to the organization. Recreational pilots also cannot operate their unmanned devices within five miles of an airport, higher than 400 feet or out of an operator’s line of sight. Drone operators flying aircraft for commercial purposes must meet much more stringent requirements, including passing a basic test and obtaining a “Part 107” license through the FAA.
Several Colorado municipalities have passed rules in recent years dictating limitations on drones. Cherry Hills Village passed drone regulations stricter than those enforced by the FAA two years ago. Boulder County also has municipal drone rules in effect. At the state level, Colorado has yet to pass any specific legislation on unmanned aircraft. However, a bill calling for a study on how drones could and should be used by law enforcement agencies in Colorado, HB17-1070, is still bouncing around the state Legislature in the waning days of the session.
Potential city uses for drones are plentiful, according to Nancy Rodgers, senior assistant city attorney, who referred to water inspections, building inspections and emergency operations at the recent committee meeting.
“There are a lot of applications throughout the city,” she said.
The city recently acquired one drone, a DJI Mavic Pro that retails for about $1,000, for the Aurora Police Department to use. The police are in the process of shoring up a formal policy on their own drone use, which will be more strict than those enforced by the FAA.
“We require more training than the FAA does in our draft policy, which is being vetted through legal,” said Jim Puscian, APD division chief.
At least three local cops have obtained the necessary FAA license to fly the machines for the department, according to Puscian.
Rodgers clarified that although the FAA rarely enforces violations on drones, local police are permitted to enforce FAA sanctions on a person found to be flying a device in an unsafe manner, per an FAA policy issued last August.
Aurora police have used drones on a contract or volunteer basis four times in recent years, according to Puscian. He said drones were used to map an outdoor murder scene several years ago, and recently to aerially observe a crime scene after a man was hit by an RTD train and to search for a boy who went missing earlier this year.
Police also used the drone this week while searching for Juan Campos-Rocha, a 13-year-old who went missing April 23 in north Aurora before being safely found two days later in Civic Center Park in Denver.
Puscian said the potential applications of drones in local police work is immense. He pointed to searching for hidden suspects, search and rescue operations, mapping flooded areas and making spiffy recruiting videos as examples.
However, Puscian said the department will likely have to purchase a more sophisticated machine in the future to perform any of the aforementioned procedures.
“We definitely would not want to stick with what we have,” Puscian said. “If this program takes off … we would want to go with something with infrared capabilities. But (what we have) is something we can learn on … and we can evaluate … is it worth it for us to spend the citizen’s money to upgrade the system?”
He said APD has looked at a more-sophisticated system that would net the department — and possibly be shared among several city departments — two drones for about $151,000.
Justin Barnett, a local drone enthusiast who works at Remote Control Hobbies in Aurora, said he and his father, Doug, are in the process of constructing a custom drone for the city’s SWAT team.
And although city lawmakers have hit the pause button on crafting an Aurora-specific policy on the unmanned aircraft, LeGare remained bullish on the devices’ future ability to help local cops.
“I do think it’s the future of law enforcement,” he said. “I think from the standpoint of the police, I predict that within three years that we’ll probably own a drone — $150,000 worth.”