Police report rise in number of drone-related complaints
Calgary police have received a higher number of complaints this year related to the use of drones in the city.
Sgt. Colin Foster of the Calgary police traffic section says 58 complaints have been logged so far in 2016 in relation to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.
There were 55 complaints for all of 2015.
But Foster says legislation regulating the use of UAVs is still “playing catch-up.”
“As it stands at the moment, we can use the Criminal Code for virtually any UAV use,” Foster said.
“But that’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.”
So far, only one person has been charged in relation to a drone flying within the vicinity of the airport.
In January, a Calgary man was charged with one count of interfering with a navigation facility to endanger the safety of aircraft — a case still working its way through the courts.
Another complaint this year involved a WestJet pilot spotting a drone as he was landing a plane — a complaint that Foster said police were not able to verify.
Recently, a drone was seen flying within McMahon Stadium during a game.
The operator was spoken to by police officers and swiftly packed up.
The complaints also range from a UAV being spotted “flying down the side of the road,” to people operating them in their backyards — basically the only place in the city residents are permitted to fly the devices.
“The minute you go beyond the boundaries of your own yard, you commit an offence,” Foster explained.
However, operators could still run into trouble if their backyard happens to be within a certain distance of a roadway.
Local bylaws prohibit drones flying over or near a roadway, and the parks bylaw prohibits the use of UAVs in parks.
“The basic rule is that you can’t fly a drone anywhere within the city, unless you have special permission,” said Foster.
Another challenge that police encounter in investigating complaints about drones is that the typical flight time of the aerial vehicles is about 15 or 20 minutes.
“By the time someone sees it, complains about it, gets it to us and we actually get to the scene, invariably the actual drone is already on the ground, the pilot’s moved off and we’re not going to catch them,” he said.
To avoid unintentional run-ins with the law, police are encouraging recreational UAV users to take advantage of a number of indoor sites run by the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada.
“There are places where you can actually fly on their property and you know you can fly without the possibility of a quite stiff penalty,” he said.
At the end of the day, Foster acknowledged, many drones are basically toys.
“People want to have fun with these things,” he said. “They just don’t realize the implications of what can happen with them.”
Transport Canada is in the process of developing new regulations that will address the safety requirements of UAVs, according to the ministry’s website.