If it was me I would sit in front of my house flying it and wait for her to park down the street again and then call the cops on her and say someone is parked and spying on you.

This is precisely what I have planned, thanks for your counsel and continued support.

Here we say: the first one to complain about a smelly fart is the one that produced it. Imagine what goes on in her own head if the only thing she comes up with is accusing someone of being a perv. A dirty mind  can be fun but twisted..gotta be careful with that.

in for updates on Matman's saga.

Matman Posted at 2017-1-20 07:09
So today was another gorgeous cloudy morning in Az so I decide to put the mavic up once more. This time hovering at 200 ft over a public zone in front of my home (no where near any kids as I'm now scarred).

The minivan momma bear shows up and drives down the street, parks and waits..

"it's federal jurisdiction here in the US, so not the city cops problem."

Be careful there!  While the feds have jurisdiction above the ground, there are several states and municipalities that have restrictions on where you can take off and land - including some public areas :-(
Don't have your day ruined on a technicallity.

While you are legally entitled to fly you aircraft within the law. I think the onus is on the drone communities, developers manufacturers etc , to try to educate those who may well have real fears about this technology, after all it looks from the outside that the drone communities are intruding on there lives , while we think these people are over reacting nosy busy bodies, the truth is they no very little about this new technology flying around them, and so if they feel we are intruding on there lives adding more discomfort noise and generally more intrusion on there lives where there was none before, it is not up to them to educate themselves about drones, but rather the more we can do to ease there minds at every opportunity then we should take it...

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.”

Well, I printed a copy of the incident report from the PD and the report says:

Subject is flying a drone near the school and has been seen doing this before
Stated that the subject is taking pictures with his drone, she saw the flash
School has been trying to figure out who it is and told the caller to report it to PD
The officer confirmed the story with the school

So I guess the lesson learned is don't use your flash when drone spying, Bwaahahahaaha

On a separate note, I was out flying at my sons Boy Scout camp out this weekend (middle of the desert)  and one child threatened to down the aircraft with a rock "because his parents told him that if someone is making him uncomfortable by filming him without permission he can do whatever necessary to stop it".

People these days are straaaange..

Matman Posted at 2017-2-6 09:50
Well, I printed a copy of the incident report from the PD and the report says:

Subject is flying a drone near the school and has been seen doing this before

Flash... unbelievable.  Facts don't seem to matter anymore.

Matman Posted at 2017-2-6 09:50
Well, I printed a copy of the incident report from the PD and the report says:

Subject is flying a drone near the school and has been seen doing this before

She told the police that she "saw the flash", huh?

I believe it's against the law to make a false statement to the police. You might want to point this out to her if you have another encounter, and maybe she'll then decide that she doesn't mind your flights after all.

I did flash the LEDs, on and off, by accident (c1 button fat finger) so I'm sure she associated the red light with "taking a picture/recording".

Great point though, she's clearly concerned for the safety of the children and the school was obviously on alert so i really must have freaked everyone out.
"Hurry children, everyone to your safe spaces, the eye in the sky will steal your soul!"

No doubt she spends much of her time watching the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) channel featuring such timeless classics as, "I Want My Baby Back" and "Murder In the Heartland".

Sorry, but flying your drone around a school that is in session  is very "creepy " it's about as creepy as taking your kids to a Disney movie and looking around and seeing a bunch of grown men with no kids.

Max, Thank you for your character assessment, sir.
FYI, school was NOT in session, it was before school when everyone is arriving and on the playground 20 minutes before the bell. My son is a student there and I was following him over the sidewalk.

And yes I too enjoy children's movies, especially animated films (although I wouldn't go to see one without my family).

It's a shame that any self assured male (I have nothing to hide or fear) who is flying near kids using a toy aircraft is a creep, welcome to the new area where everyone's feelings trump the rule of law.

Soon law abiding single males won't be allowed in theatres to see "children's movies" any more. "Because normal men don't enjoy family movies"

"We Wouldn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable so you'll need to leave sir"

Maxxgold Posted at 2017-2-6 10:14
Sorry, but flying your drone around a school that is in session  is very "creepy " it's about as creepy as taking your kids to a Disney movie and looking around and seeing a bunch of grown men with no kids.

Would it also be creepy if there were a theatre showing a kids movie with a bunch of adult women with no child present? Yes it would be unusual, but creepy is you judging me. They also call that discrimination and hate, with a candy coating for the children's sake and protection.


Where does this hypocritical judgmental BS end?

Maxxgold Posted at 2017-2-6 10:14
Sorry, but flying your drone around a school that is in session  is very "creepy " it's about as creepy as taking your kids to a Disney movie and looking around and seeing a bunch of grown men with no kids.

Hey some of those disney movies are made for adults and marketed to kids. Like Up- I cried so hard at the beginning.. Had to turn in my man card after that one.

Thank you! I too choke up watching Pixar movies and short films.

you too may be a drone creep!

Gone are the days where the older generation can interact with the young to pass on generational knowlege. Or god forbid, in the name of good clean fun.

This sad truth reflects where we are as a society, when single adult males are ostracized for such trivial pursuits.

If this was a 10 year old boy flying his toy aircraft, no one would bat an eye. No police would be called. No feathers ruffled.

Because I'm an adult male, I'm a creep.

Matman Posted at 2017-2-6 11:03
Thank you! I too choke up watching Pixar movies and short films.

you too may be a drone creep!

lol Well labels are labels. If only everyone watched the Alex Jones and Joe Rogan podcast #911

thehippoz Posted at 2017-2-6 11:01
Hey some of those disney movies are made for adults and marketed to kids. Like Up- I cried so hard at the beginning.. Had to turn in my man card after that one.

OK, that's funny!

What's most disturbing is that she reported "seeing me take pictures of children" which is not only untrue but also impossible (unless you're standing over my shoulder).

Matman Posted at 2017-2-6 10:51
Would it also be creepy if there were a theatre showing a kids movie with a bunch of adult women with no child present? Yes it would be unusual, but creepy is you judging me. They also call that discrimination and hate, with a candy coating for the children's sake and protection.

I think this Maxxgold dude was joking?? There are always grown men without kids when Disney Pixar films are in the cinema. In fact, I would be one myself if I didn't have kids. But, fortunate for me, I use my kids as an excuse to see every single one released asap including eating motherloads of candy and popcorn and sure..it's also fun for the kids!
There are many pathetic sick indivuduals that use "kids" as an excuse for many things.

Currently seeking legal advice:
Restraining order
Defamation of character and slander
Personal injury and time off work/future wage loss/medical treatment costs

Most lawyers won't call me back or don't take "cases like that", all I wanted was some paid advice in terms of when someone is making false allegations.

To the OP:

First, I would recommend that you try to relax and let this go.  It's very unlikely you'll get anywhere in the courts with this.  More likely, you'dl just end up spending lots of money and causing even more hard feelings.

Second, I'd recommend that you try to avoid further encounters with this woman.  

Third, although I dont' think you've done anything wrong, I think it's important to recognize the very strong adverse reaction many people have to strangers photographing kids.  Although I'm new to droning, I'm a long-time and avid photo hobbyist, and I learned long ago to avoid even the appearance of attempting to photograph a child I don't know.  When you combine the strong aversion many people have to photographing children with the distaste and suspicion that many people feel toward drones in general, you're just asking for trouble.

My 2 cents.

fab6mR8WKokt Posted at 2017-2-6 17:34
To the OP:

First, I would recommend that you try to relax and let this go.  It's very unlikely you'll get anywhere in the courts with this.  More likely, you'dl just end up spending lots of money and causing even more hard feelings.

Thanks for your advice,

I was kidding with the legal aspects, that would be a dead end and waste of my time. I have better things to do than fly around my kids school, or chase soccer moms for legal vindication.

But I am disturbed that the officer made no mention that I was NOT filming or photographing. The incident report was fairly one sided and made it sound like the persons allegations were fact.

Matman Posted at 2017-2-6 11:12
Gone are the days where the older generation can interact with the young to pass on generational knowlege. Or god forbid, in the name of good clean fun.

This sad truth reflects where we are as a society, when single adult males are ostracized for such trivial pursuits.

I grew up in a working class neighborhood where my grands lived (my parents were working all day so I had to stay with them) There were no cellphones, and there were junkies and gipsy settlements causing trouble every other day. We used however to stay outside playing all day, with no way to be traced. Everybody in the neighborhood knew every kid, and nobody felt unsafe even when there were dangerous persons around because everybody looked out for each other's kids.

Nowadays we live in safe neighborhoods, the kids have faster computers in their pockets than we ever dreamt to have on our rooms, police patrols the streets routinely... yet nobody knows each other and the kids are always driven to every place because the world is "too risky".

Crazy world we're building...

Update: i called the public defenders office and they suggested I speak with a PD supervisor to have the incident report updated to include my side of the story (I was not photographing children, and my son is a student there).

I spoke with the supervisor and he basically refused and said I'd need to have the responding officer make the update.

The officer then called me and after a lengthy back and forth he  said he would update the report to add the context necessary to clear my name (in the report).

I was pretty much begging him to just add a few more words to indicate what really happened and he agreed.

To them this is such trivia and a waste of time, but if the reporting party does this again (for more serious allegations) it could be used against me, hence the importance.

Thanks for your interest and support. Be vigilant, use common sense, and know your rights!
M@

this whole thing is just obvious. you know you did nothing wrong but to others it sounds like youre a spying creep and its basically a who are they gonna believe a concerned parent and a school or the person everyone is calling a "creep" this wont go anywhere for u on ur side and thats why lawyers didnt return your calls and the pd supervisor wouldnt do what you asked. they probably dont believe ur story. i think u should just be real careful and stay under the radar cause they obviously all think ur a spying creep and its hard to prove ur not.  id fly else where til this all cools down. think about it if you saw a drone flying by a school and following a kid wouldn't you think the same thing? it may have been innocent but its kinda the wrong place at the wrong time kinda moment. u meant no harm but its a touchy area

Yeah no kidding! Ya think?

The PD supe wouldn't update the report and instead suggested the responding officer update it, which he did. So I'm good. The officer said this is a done deal and no biggie.

Case closed

CuaC Posted at 2017-2-7 00:41
I grew up in a working class neighborhood where my grands lived (my parents were working all day so I had to stay with them) There were no cellphones, and there were junkies and gipsy settlements causing trouble every other day. We used however to stay outside playing all day, with no way to be traced. Everybody in the neighborhood knew every kid, and nobody felt unsafe even when there were dangerous persons around because everybody looked out for each other's kids.

Nowadays we live in safe neighborhoods, the kids have faster computers in their pockets than we ever dreamt to have on our rooms, police patrols the streets routinely... yet nobody knows each other and the kids are always driven to every place because the world is "too risky".

Hit the nail on the head there.  Extremely well put.

I just stumbled on your story - so here are my 2 cents. All my life I took photos of stuff - first up with analog cameras (mom's SLR Practica, my own Minoltas etc) later on going digital and finally getting a Phantom 2 Vision and now Mavic. Throughout this I could never get the point why people get uncomfortable if their kid could possibly be a part of the picture. What will happen with the picture then? Do I need to take a picture of a kid I'd like to kidnap and molest? And if somebody does take it home and uses it to stimulate himself - then what? The kid will be damaged somehow remotely? Seriously - where's the problem?

Or maybe I'm just too allergic to stupidity hence I overreact when I am faced with it. That could well be. I can't get the point. Sorry. Logic says - go find a purpose in your life and skip being a problem.

I for one think the soccer mom or whatever was completely ignorant.  You want to question me fine.  Once I answer your question move the $%^# on.  I don't need to legitamize myself to anyone.  I'm enjoying a product I paid for.  Call the cops and let them check my FAA registration and waste 30 minutes of your time.  I really don't care.