Sept. 15--When a small, camera-equipped drone hovered over recent demonstrations near the Galleria, the unmanned aircraft with glowing lights did more than startle some protestors.
The Aug. 31 overflight launched worries about possible government surveillance of two peaceful gatherings of groups supporting, and opposing, U.S. military intervention in Syria. And it raised safety concerns, as the unmanned aircraft flew close to vehicles.
"He had it literally right on top of cars, very low, to where it would affect their vision," said Abeer Patel, who attended the demonstration. "It looked like a helicopter toy, and then I noticed a black camera attached to it."
A Houston police officer asked the drone operator to quit flying the aircraft so low, Patel said.
It remains unclear who was operating the drone, and the flight appears to have violated FAA flight rules. But the buzz over drones in Houston comes at a crucial time in the future of unmanned aircraft flights in U.S. skies, as regulations are being finalized to determine who can use them, where they can be flown and what they can photograph.
On Sept.1, the Texas Privacy Act became law after Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation prohibiting drone operations over private property without the owner's permission. The new law, which has exceptions for emergency public safety situations, has frustrated Texas law enforcement agencies who already have purchased unmanned aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is hammering out final flight rules for Unmanned Aerial Systems -- the agency's name for drones ranging in size from a Boeing 737 to a model airplane -- and expect to implement them next year. At the same time, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, has filed a proposed federal law he hopes will pass later this fall that keeps government drones from filming private property not in plain view or individuals without first obtaining a court warrant.
"The goal is to protect the right of privacy of citizens in a very evolving, high-technology time," said Poe, a former Houston state district judge who wants to make sure the constitutional protections against illegal searches are preserved. "You can't go fly a drone and trump the Fourth Amendment."
Warrant in 48 hours
Poe's proposed law would not require police to get a warrant in emergency situations, including when there is immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to a person, conspiratorial activities that threaten national security or organized crime operations. But it would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant within 48 hours of the emergency, and justify aerial recordings if they captured individuals.
It also requires law enforcement agencies who have FAA authority to operate a drone to report to the U.S. attorney general how the aircraft will be used, how long it plans to keep surveillance footage, as well as destruction of unneeded images. The proposed law also allows the Justice Department to seek revocation of a law agency's drone license from the FAA if privacy protections are not met.
FAA officials in Washington said that, as of February, 327 public agencies have been authorized to operate unmanned aerial systems for law enforcement for missions including fighting fires, patrolling the Texas-Mexico border, and search and rescue operations.
The Arlington Police Department used $202,000 in federal grant money to buy a pair of Leptron Avengers, single-rotor unmanned helicopters they use to manage traffic accidents on Metroplex highways, as well as mapping large crime scenes. The 11-pound drones, which are almost 5 feet long, can fly for an hour and send images back to police headquarters, said Lt. Christopher Cook.
But the new Texas Privacy Act has concerned police, who say the requirement to get permission of property owners before flying their drone over private property could delay operations.
Cook said the Arlington department's major concern with the new law "is it would restrict our access, because we would be required to contact each property owner before we can deploy the unit."
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland raised the same concerns in a letter he wrote to Perry in June, urging him to veto the Texas Privacy Act.
"As this technology advances and is more widely utilized by law enforcement, we want to be able to maximize its use and potential to protect the public," McClelland wrote.
However, a Houston police spokeswoman said the department does not have a drone, and had no information on the aircraft reported at the Syrian demonstrations. Despite McClelland's letter to Perry, Houston police have no plans to get a drone.
In Montgomery County
"We do not own, nor operate, an unmanned aircraft of any size," said Jodi Silva, noting Houston police tested a drone in the past. "We have no plans to purchase any in the future, right now."
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office has FAA authority to operate its $240,000, gas-powered Shadowhawk drone, and does not anticipate running afoul of the new Texas law. They plan to use the 7-foot unmanned aircraft for search and rescue and other emergency law operations the bill allows, said Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel.
He is more worried about enforcing violations of illegal surveillance by private drone operators, which result in a Class C misdemeanor charge.
"The enforcement of it is going to be extremely difficult to work within," McDaniel predicts. "You've got to prove up they were using the video or digital image. Are you going to break into your neighbor's home and say 'Give me the video off that drone'? It puts law enforcement right in the middle of it."
Use by civilians
Civilian operation of drones for commercial gain is currently prohibited, but that may change when the new FAA rules are released early next year.
FAA officials say that flight rules for recreational use of drones are the same that apply to model aircraft usage, which means operators cannot fly them recklessly over vehicles, above 400 feet, or near people or structures.
"Typically what we would do is investigate and possibly propose a civil penalty if someone was operating an unmanned aircraft in what's called a reckless and careless fashion," said FAA official Les Dorr, who had not heard of the Houston flight.
The only action by FAA in a drone incident was in April 2012, when the FAA issued a $10,000 civil penalty against a man operating an unmanned glider over the University of Virginia medical center campus in Charlottesville, Va., said Dorr. It was a commercial flight to map the campus, and the FAA cited a dozen violations, including flying under a pedestrian tunnel, under a crane, and 20 feet over cars and pedestrians.
Selling package deal
The new FAA drone rules can't come too soon for those who sell the aircraft, including Steve Klindworth who owns UAVDirect in Liberty Hill, outside of Austin.
His company will sell you a four-bladed "quadcopter," similar to the one protesters reported near the Galleria, for $479.95. Add real-time video and viewing goggles for $500, and the operator can fly the drone while seeing whatever is in front of the aircraft-mounted camera.
Klindworth said there are many commercial applications to use drones, and there has been great interest from ranchers, farmers and Realtors who want to use the aircraft to survey property, or even gauge the need to fertilize row crops.
"I feel it's an industry that is being held back by a lack of sensible regulation, otherwise people are just going to go out and do it and you're going to have problems," Klindworth said.
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