Why Anti-Drone Tech Companies Can't Zap New Jersey's Aerial Invaders

[AntiFascist]

Lots of people in New Jersey are freaking out when they look at the night sky—and not without reason. Residents and officials have not only reported more than 3,000 mysterious drone sightings overhead since mid-November, but local and most federal authorities have been powerless to do much about the creepy craft. Several aerial tech companies are ready to lend a hand to clear the air over the Garden State, but under current U.S. laws, they, too, are limited in how and where their detect, identify, and neutralize solutions can be used.
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For starters, it’s illegal to shoot one of the craft out of the sky, as many private citizens who’ve fired shotguns at prying aerial eyes have learned from stiff court sentences. Meanwhile, the hands of local law enforcement agencies are also tied. Even DHS and the FBI—among the few agencies permitted to take action against invasive craft—face legal limits on how and where they can respond.

“Current laws in the U.S. restrict state and local law enforcement agencies from leveraging potentially useful counter-drone technology to detect, track, identify, and mitigate drone threats,” says Mary-Lou Smulders, chief marketing officer with leading counter-UAV tech company Dedrone by Axon. “There is pending bipartisan legislation in Congress from [Michigan] Senator Gary Peters (among others), seeking to give state, local, tribe and territorial agencies expanded authorities to address the persistent and escalating threat of drones.”
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Since intercepting data flowing between drones and their controllers is illegal, counter-UAV companies design platforms that use the types of radio frequencies transmitted to identify the brand and model flown. From there—based on the legal restrictions applicable to different kinds of intrusion scenarios—the detection tech can track down owner information, and even prevent the drones from continued operation.

https://www.inc.com/bruce-crumley/why-anti-drone-tech-companies-cant-zap-new-jerseys-aerial-invaders/91065488