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FAA grounds LA sheriff's unmanned surveillance drone plans Federal authorities have temporarily grounded Sheriff Lee Baca's plans to fight crime using unmanned surveillance drones. Baca hopes to use the small, remote-controlled planes to monitor events such as standoffs and hostage situations, and search for fleeing suspects. Last week, sheriff's officials demonstrated one of the 3-foot-long planes in an abandoned field, showing it take off, beam video images 250 feet to deputies below, and land. The test, however, irked officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, who said they had told the Sheriff's Department that it needed a certificate of authorization from the FAA before flying the planes. The FAA regulates drones to ensure they don't interfere with aircraft, said spokeswoman Laura Brown. The agency is particularly concerned about their use in the congested skies above Los Angeles. "I wouldn't want to term us as peeved, but we were definitely surprised," Brown said. The FAA won't authorize the county to use drones until it investigates the incident to determine whether the sheriff's Department should face disciplinary action, Brown said. Sheriff's officials described the controversy as a misunderstanding that soon will be cleared up. "A private citizen can go to the store and buy one of those model airplanes and fly them around. But because we're doing it as a public service, we have to deal with the FAA?" said Sheriff's Cmdr. Sid Heal. If the five-pound drones prove to be effective during tests, the Sheriff's Department plans to buy 20 of them at a cost of $20,000 to $30,000 each. Backers say the drones are much cheaper to operate than the department's 18 helicopters and are virtually silent. Privacy advocates worry the Sheriff's Department will spy on people - a concern department officials said is unwarranted. ---------------------------------------------------
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