PeteGould
 lvl.4
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I'm coming to this story late but I wanted to comment on some of the (mostly really, really bad) advice you've been given in this thread.
Qualifications: flying R/C aircraft since the 1970s, certificated Private Pilot - Airplane Single Engine Land, since 1993, flying UAS since 2014, law enforcement officer since 1979, awaiting Part 107 ticket earned earlier this week. Also own a video production company (which is why I own an Inspire) and teach film and television production at the college level.
Naturally, none of us reading this thread know what really happened. We only have your perspective. What the police officers did would be judged purely on their perspective, and what a reasonably prudent person in the officers' place, with the officers' training, would have believed (even if that belief was factually incorrect). With that said, if the officers believed your operation of the Inspire was careless or reckless and posed a danger to persons or property on the ground or in a building, they can very likely seize your aircraft, without a warrant, for further investigation. The FAA has indicated to state, county and local law enforcement agencies that all local laws apply to UAS operations and that if local laws were violated, the police may take action (unlike MOST cases involving manned aircraft, where the federal enforcement preempts local). I don't work in Illinois but many state laws are similar. In my state, if your negligent or reckless conduct causes danger to another person or their property you run afoul of several different criminal statutes at the state level (again, your perception of whether there was danger is irrelevant to the officers' conduct; all that matters is what a reasonable person in the officers' place, with their experience and training, would have believed at the time). If the officers had probable cause to believe you violated one or more equivalent Illinois statutes or Chicago criminal ordinances, they could have arrested you on the spot and seized the UAS as evidence OR obtained your personal information, seized the UAS as evidence of a crime and conducted further investigation before making an arrest decision. You would generally get the property back at the conclusion of the investigation if no arrest was made, or its disposition would be determined by the Court if an arrest was made and prosecution ensued.
Chicago may have adopted an ordinance criminalizing UAS takeoffs and landings within the city limits - a number of jurisdictions already have. If so, they didn't need anything more than that.
Either way, it would not be a Fourth Amendment violation to seize the UAS without a warrant assuming, for sake of discussion, that they reasonably believed a state, county or local criminal law was violated. In that case the crime occurred in their presence and the instrument of the crime was in plain view. These provide exceptions to the warrant rule.
Moving on to the airspace violation: if you have your Commercial ticket then you already know that Class B airspace surrounding an airport like Midway extends to the ground where shown on the sectional or TAC chart and that depending on local specifics there can be carve-outs for neighboring Class C or D airports and there can also be extensions depending on local requirements. The FAA doesn't give a rat's tail about the DJI geofencing or other third-party references you may have relied upon. They hold the Remote Pilot In Command (you) 100% responsible for staying clear of other-than-Class-G airspace, using FAA-approved references, so if you were a quarter mile inside the Class-B-to-the-surface area, coupled with whatever behavior the Chicago PD reported to them, this could be a significant problem. They would likely be much stricter with you than a UAS hobbiest with no background since as a Commercial ticket holder you already know the airspace classifications and could reasonably be expected to know if you were flying in an area prohibited to UAS. To the point where if you're using your Commercial ticket to make a living, be aware that they could go after that in addition to whatever other sanctions are involved.
The people who told you to huff and puff at the cops about the Fourth Amendment and demand they return your UAS or you're telling Mommy are out of their minds. In 37 years of law enforcement I cannot tell you how many times someone who arrogantly professes to know the law (but doesn't know NEARLY as much as they think they do) has gotten themselves or the "friends" they were advising into MUCH deeper trouble through such puffery. Yes, there are people shooting each other in Chicago and yes there are lawless areas but if CPD was worried you could have killed someone by dropping a UAS on their head or the FAA thinks you could have brought down an airliner if you'd had a flyaway inside a Class B those concerns are no less valid.
I would strongly consider consulting an aviation attorney, especially if you make your living with your Commercial ticket. The FAA has just had several hundred thousand UAS added to what they have to oversee, more than doubling the number of aircraft for which they're responsible. They're overwhelmed, terrified of an incident that could bring down a manned aircraft now that this is leg imagery on their watch, and looking to make some high profile examples. Hopefully you will not be one of them, but you have to take this very seriously and be VERY polite (while not incriminating yourself). |
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