LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Neighbors question how low drones can fly and what can be done to stop possible invasions of privacy after a woman reported seeing one hovering at her bedroom window. She says it happened around 3:30 a.m. one morning. She thinks it may have been a Peeping Tom using technology to spy on her. Other neighbors are chiming in on social media saying they have also had drone encounters.
The woman, who spoke with FOX5, has asked us not to identify her but she does live in the Cadence Community in Henderson.
“I heard something that sounded like a humming noise…I realized that there was something outside of the window because the moon was bright and I could see the outline of something,” the woman recounted. The woman got out of her bed, walked to the window, and was face-to-face with a drone.
“I was so confused initially because I just was absolutely not expecting that and then after that I was really, really afraid,” the woman confessed.
The woman posted about what happened on a neighborhood watch group to warn her neighbors and was surprised by the response, other people saying they too felt watched by drones. One poster writing quote: “I was in my backyard in my swimsuit tanning and had a drone hover over my backyard multiple times, it was very uncomfortable.”
Henderson Police tell FOX5, if a drone flies over your property at a low altitude without your consent it is considered a civil matter. However, you should you contact police if other laws are being broken such as stalking, harassment, invasion of privacy, or criminal trespassing.
FOX5 Chief Drone Pilot Ted Pretty has been flying drones for well over a decade and says anyone who flies must follow certain rules.
“You got rules on the federal side that deal mostly with airspace access and also with air safety, flying safety, things like that with your drone on the state side and this is true with every state. They’re more having to deal with privacy issues and that’s where the privacy laws and the rules come into play,” Pretty explained.
Drone operators must make sure they are allowed to fly in a certain area away from the Vegas Valley’s four airports, must register the drone with the FAA, and it must emit a remote ID. There are laws someone using a drone nefariously will likely ignore.
“They’re probably just not going to follow many laws period and so it’s even more difficult to find that pilot of that drone,” Pretty stated.
In Nevada, the threshold for flying a drone is 250 feet above a private property with the exception of drones being used for businesses like real estate or construction.
The woman who saw the drone at her bedroom window tells us she did not previously think to report the incident to police but certainly, will if it happens again.
HPD also advises homeowners not to tamper with or attempt to disable another person’s drone. If you believe a drone is operating unlawfully or intrusively, they say the best course of action is to safely document the incident with video or photographs and report it to law enforcement.
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