Sheriff’s Deputies Clash With Drone
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There are new concerns today over drone technology after an incident with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies are keeping their eyes on the skies after a private drone flew over a crime scene this past friday.
While deputies were investigating a death near ware’s ferry road, one man decided to fly a drone near the crime scene.
That upset some of the deputies, who temporarily confiscated the drone.
Chief Deputy Kevin Murphy says that qualifies as interfering with a crime scene.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen it. I’ve not known any colleagues to see this either. I would just caution citizens, I know their curiosity is getting the better of them but I would caution them to keep drones out of a crime scene because they are interfering with an official investigation,” said Murphy.
Many of those citizens are just hobbyists like Russ McKinney.
He’s made his own drone and flies as a member of the Radio Aero Modelers club in Montgomery.
“I think as it becomes more mainstream people will become more educated and that will help, but I think there’s always going to be some people out there who don’t care or who are just ignorant,” said McKinney.
One way to learn the rules is know to visit know before you fly dot org. McKinney says it’s a good crash course in what you can and cannot do with a drone.
McKinney is glad that Alabama is open to using the technology, with the state’s drone task force paving the way.
“They’re taking input from a lot of different areas. They have some hobbyists and some arial photographers who are contributing to the task for and that’s great because the hobbyists need to be heard. Most of the guys doing arial photography have a background in the hobby to begin with,” said McKinney.
Just to be clear, the drone pilot at the crime scene was not charged with anything.
