I've registered my drone with South Yorkshire Police

Hi to all members old and new. I haven’t been on here for quite a while as had family problems and as such my dad died just before Christmas, funeral this Friday. I have just managed to register my drone with the South Yorkshire Police and I think it would be a very wise idea that you all register with which ever force you are with. I e-mailed the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police who forwarded my e-mail onto a officer based at Doncaster Airport. ian.proffitt@southyorks.pnn.police.uk not too sure if you use his e-mail address or the chief constable’s e-mail and let him forward it onto the relevant person. His e-mail address is Gordon.Sitch@southyorks.pnn.police.uk The information that is required by them is :- Name /address; DOB; serial number of drone; what type of drone it is; any identifying marks on it; areas you fly it in and phone number. It is as simple as that at the moment. My advice to you is to copy your e-mail that you have sent with the information that they have required and there e-mail asking for it; then if you get stopped by a officer you have proof that it has been registered.
kind regards
John

Sorry but I dont understand why you are registering withe police or have I missed something?

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I have registered it with the Police as in October this year all drones will have to be registered to us them and since the incidents around the airports the Police now have the power to seize them. So better to have them registered now than later.

I am sorry but I am afraid that you are mistaken on some of the issues and other son here will advise better.

The requirement to register comes in later this year, but it will not be your local police but a central registration system though yet to be announced. You will have to register with the new system, regardless of what you have passed to the police.

Police powers are still to be agreed. The results on a recent consultation have just been announced. Have a look at this link to get a clearer understanding.

Enjoy your flying, and there will always be someone here to guide you if you have any questions.

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A no reason to tell the police at the airports as you should really be flying any near them! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

This has been taken from page 19 of Government papers published January 2019 ‘Taking Flight:- The future of drones in the UK’ A government response (paper) page 19:-

Police powers
3.1 The Government proposed specific new powers to enable the police to better enforce
drone misuse and clamp down on malicious behaviour, following feedback in our
previous consultation that the police were lacking sufficient powers. These powers
are particularly crucial, given that the majority of Airprox incidents are as a result of
drone fliers breaking current laws.
3.2 The Government proposed to give police across the UK the power to:
• Require the production of evidence in specific circumstances for:
─ drone operator registration,
─ remote pilot acknowledgement of competency,
─ the use of a mandated and/or regulated FINS by the remote pilot and/or drone
operator, should the decision be taken to mandate their use, and
─ other requirements for specific flights, such as permission for commercial
drone use or exemptions from the CAA from any ANO 2016 articles;
• Obtain information such as the names and addresses of the registered drone
operator and/or remote pilot believed to be in charge of the drone in specific
circumstances (such as where there is a reasonable suspicion of the commission
of an offence);
• If the identity of the drone operator is not provided, the power to obtain the name
and address of the person who made the drone available for use by the remote
pilot should be given to the police;
• Require a remote pilot to land a drone in specific circumstances;
• Enter and/or search premises, with a warrant, where there is reasonable
suspicion that there is a drone and/or its associated components which the police
reasonably suspects of having been involved in the commission of an offence;
• Seize and retain a drone and/or its associated components which the police
reasonably believes of having been involved in the commission of an offence on
entering and/or searching premises;
• Access information stored electronically on a seized drone and/or its associated
components which a constable reasonably suspects:
─ is evidence in relation to an offence, or
─ has been obtained as a result of the commission of an offence, and
18
─ it is necessary to do so in order to prevent it being concealed, lost, tampered
with or destroyed;
• Require any information stored in electronic form on a drone to be produced in a
visible and legible form. The power can only be exercised if the police has
reasonable grounds for believing that:
─ it is evidence in relation to an offence, or
─ it has been obtained as a result of the commission of an offence, and
─ it is necessary to do so in order to prevent it being concealed, lost, tampered
with or destroyed.

John

Here is another legislation that I have come across date 2018.

NEW DRONE REGULATIONS IN 2018

Following the announcement of new drone laws, UK drone enthusiasts are scrambling to make sure they are compliant before the laws come into force. Carry on reading to find out exactly what these new laws mean for you.

DRONE SIZE AND REGISTRATION RULES

Under the new laws, drones weighing over 250g will need to be formally registered. This will affect the majority of drone users as even small drones such as the DJI Spark exceed this weight limit. Drone pilots must be able to present their registration documents if requested to do so by the police. Those who fail to register their drone before flying could be given a £1,000 fine.

The 400 ft height limit, which currently only applies to UAVs over 7kg, will be becoming a requirement for drones between 250g and 7kg.

Where in any of that does it say you need to register with your local police force? Asking for a friend

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Sorry for your recent loss
Currently there is no need to register with anybody.

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Good morning. Remember that I only said that I had registered the drone with the police and was only advising you to register it. I only registered mine with the Police as they at the moment are the only ones registering them as all others as in CAA are not intrested and the police have been given new powers to the idiots flying them over airports and the prime minister, so it is better to be safe than sorry. Can you afford a £1000 fine for not registering ??? I can not and can you afford to replace your drone if you get it confiscated ??? as I can not.
I asked the Chief Constable for advice and he forwarded my e-mail to the officer based at Doncaster airport. My original e-mail was just advising people not ordering you to do it, like I said better safe than sorry. If you don’t have anything to hide then there wouldn’t be any problems.

Sorry John mate but the police have not been given new powers yet. These are the proposed changes that the government wish to make and are not in force at this time. Currently there will be no £1000 fine for not registering.
Don’t get me wrong matey, because you have registered your drone clearly shows you are a responsible drone user even when you didn’t have to.

When I have to register my drone I will but right now I don’t have to so I won’t. Bringing in these new laws won’t stop the irresponsible drone user purely because they are exactly that, irresponsible. Banning mobile phones from behind the wheel still hasn’t stopped people being killed because of irresponsible drivers using them.

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Sorry for your loss, John - hard times mate :confused:

I sure can’t…

But then again, it isn’t November 2019 yet :slight_smile:

As others have already mentioned, the police won’t be the people you’ll need to register it with :blush:

:+1:t2:

Only that you’ll have to do it all over again with some other firm come November :blush:

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The knife amnesty isn’t working in that there London either, still kids getting stabbed everyday ;o(

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Personally, it isn’t a requirement yet but I think it gives a positive impression to the local police that we are not all hell bent on causing mayhem. What possible harm can it do to let the people in charge have your details. I’m afraid it really is going to change quite quickly and quite severely. I applaud your forward thinking and responsible attitude towards drone ownership

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Pretty strange that one force has decided to start registering drones off their own back.

I’d want to know where they hold my data, how long for and who they share it with.

Seems a bit fishy. Id wait for the official registration process.

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Agreed. I don’t suppose the Police even have a proper register of drones yet, and not likely to have one as it’s not their responsibility to keep such.
Only to enforce the law, and the new powers give them the authority to ask for your registration, or to ask the company holding registrations, for your details

I have looked online and cannot find anything about South Yorks having a drone register. There was some publicity last year when there was a media report about increase in reported incidents of drones. However Freedom of Information requests show many of these to be drone operators reporting where they were flying, as well as many reports from people about seeing drones flying across fields!

Your right That under the lastest GDPR regulations, the force would have to have a ‘legitimate’ reason to keep such a record. It can’t be just be want they want to.

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Precisely. I’d question the validity of them keeping the details under current legislation. I’ve no objection to registering and taking a course later this year when it comes in to force.

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Exactly what records are you afraid of sharing? Most of us have shared all this information with each other on here. We put where we live on a map and what drone we fly and where and if you think that the police don’t know your name and address if they require it then I think you are sadly deluded. Personally if you want my details I couldn’t give a hoot, its nothing you can’t get from an electoral role or parish register or the dvla or rifling through my bins. As for the police having them, well if your doing no harm or nothing illegal then what’s the issue?

The “issue” is that under GDPR regulations it is illegal to hold that information without good reason to do so and a processor of personal data must clearly disclose any data collection, declare the lawful basis and purpose for data processing, and state how long data is being retained and if it is being shared with any third parties. I’m pretty sure none of that is happening right now.

I’m more than happy to sign up to a register when it comes in to play as all of the above will be satisfied.