As Mystery Drones Fill Skies, Police and Businesses Want Authority to Take Them Down – WSJ

ew Americans can legally take down a drone. Businesses, along with state and local law-enforcement agencies, want to change that. 

This month s New Jersey drone scare highlighted the potential threat and public nuisance associated with more unmanned aircraft operating in the skies. President-elect Donald Trump and other politicians in recent days have called to shoot down suspected airborne menaces flying over the Garden State, but only a handful of federal agencies are allowed to do it.

The Federal Aviation Administration in mid-December imposed temporary flight bans over critical infrastructure in New Jersey and New York, citing a request from security partners. The Federal Bureau of Investigation s Newark office also told residents not to try to shoot drones, warning of dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly.

There are certain assets, locations, facilities that are truly critical to our operations, and those need to be defended in real time, said Scott Aaronson, senior vice president for security and preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group for U.S. power companies. We have to be able to intervene.

The military and law enforcement are finding increased uses for pilotless small aircraft for surveillance or delivering payloads. Companies delivering goods, ferrying medical supplies and inspecting industrial equipment are also helping drive drone demand, as are hobbyists.

Federal officials have said the aircraft spurring concerns among New Jerseyites were likely planes heading to and from airports, or lawful drone flights. Serious drone threats emerged elsewhere in the country weeks earlier, however.

via www.wsj.com

Those darn drones. They are a caution.