Plan for Crimefighting Drones Shot Down

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

I reported earlier this week on a plan by the LA Sheriff’s Department to start using airborne drones named SkySeer for surveillance. Well, that plan has been grounded by the FAA. Last week the department held a demo for the media, but without filing the paperwork they had been told to file.

But the test raised the ire of FAA officials, who said they had told the Sheriff’s Department a week earlier that it could not fly the drones without receiving a certificate of authorization from the agency.

“I wouldn’t want to term us as peeved, but we were definitely surprised,” FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. Sheriff’s officials were told “that we were more than willing to sit down and talk about a certificate — but that was before their first flight.”

The FAA is now investigating Friday’s demonstration to determine whether the Sheriff’s Department should face disciplinary action. Source: LA Times

We Say: I’m sure this will be ironed out. The department has been working on this for seven years with La Verne-based defense contractor, Octatron and they’re not going to drop it now. ‘Course, there might be some feet-dragging by the FAA since they’re a little bit … er, irritated at this point.