The Los Angeles (LA) City Council (the Council) decided it would join the widespread efforts for more drone legislation, and endorse a series of federal and state legislation related to the use of drones and public safety protections. On August 31, 2015, the Council voted unanimously to support state legislation criminalizing drone usage that interferes with firefighting, medical evacuations, and search-and-rescue operations, and to indemnify emergency responders that damage privately-owned drones in the line of duty. The Council also voted unanimously to support federal legislation requiring drones to have safety features such as “geo-fencing” (or technology that restricts the drones’ ability to fly to specific heights and locations) as well as “collision-avoidance software.” Lastly, the Council asked the LA fire and police departments to help prepare draft ordinances that would regulated drones within five miles of an airport. This will surely only be the beginning of many more state and federal proposals for drone regulations and privacy protections against drone use.

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