State clears drone companies for aerial services

In what one participant calls the first such example in the nation, Connecticut has adopted a procurement procedure to help state and municipal agencies field drones for varying projects, ranging from tourism imagery to disaster response and police surveillance — including within a few hours notice.

In August, the Virginia Beach, Va.based startup DroneUp reached a master procurement agreement with its home state, with the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services now having signed a “participating addendum” agreement that uses the Virginia agreement as a model.

The National Association of State Procurement Officers has been promoting the idea of identifying “lead” states to create model contracts that other states can adopt, as a way to improve outcomes and help states save money.

Connecticut awarded a separate procurement deal to Avion Solutions, a Huntsville, Ala.based company that provides drone services. The Department of Administrative Services contracts extend nearly five years.

DroneUp operates a “Mission Match” website that connects those needing drone services with professional operators, as well as amateurs who offer up their services on a volunteer basis.

Government agencies already use drones extensively in Connecticut, as the case with commercial enterprises like real estate brokers, builders and utilities. The new procurement system is intended to make it easier for any Connecticut or municipal agency to find and hire a drone operator, including for shortnotice assignments.

As of the second week of December, the Federal Aviation Administration had registered more than 160,000 people to operate aerial drones in the United States, with the FAA having nearly 1.1 million devices registered for recreational purposes and more than 400,000 for commercial jobs. The FAA maintains a website at www.faa.gov/uas/ getting_started that includes applicable rules and safety tips for those looking to fly drones.

As the case elsewhere in the country, Connecticut drone operators have come under scrutiny the past few years as complaints have surfaced of hobbyists conducting flights near Danbury Municipal Airport and Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford.

Connecticut prohibits the use of drones in state parks unless operators obtain permission in advance, but otherwise has few rules in place, relying on FAA regulations and enforcement as the case with many states. In 2017, the state passed a law limiting municipalities from issuing their own rules.

This year, the General Assembly’s Public Safety Committee weighed whether to study the use of drones by police and consider a requirement for departments to log any use, without moving to a vote after hearing testimony from Vernon’s police chief and from the American Civil Liberties Union, among others.

“Drones can go low, close — they’re in some cases silent (and) they’re being operated now with audio surveillance technology,” said David McGuire, executive director of ACLU’s Connecticut affiliate, during testimony last March in Hartford. “This is a technology that we’ve really fallen behind on regulating.”

Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media A Manchester police officer discusses drone technology in February during a career expo at Norwalk Community College. This month the state Department of Administrative Services established a procurement procedure for state and local agencies to hire drone operators in as little as a few hours for specific projects, to include disaster response and police surveillance.