Why would you not just produce whatever a police officer asked you to produce?
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Welcome to the internet 
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Pirbright, Are you entirely sure about that ? What’s the “proof of competency ? How does ,( if someone has registered with the CAA and has an operator ID and is flying a sub 250gm drone,) prove their “competency?” For all the copper knows , this could be their first time flying a drone.
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Totally agree 
Hi Officer,
Give me a moment and I’ll land the drone. It’s sub-250 gm, but you’re welcome to inspect it.
Stand back a bit as I land it.
Okay It’s landed and I’ve turned it off. Here’s my flyer’s card, it has the operator Id, my flyer Id and insurance details. You’re welcome to take a photo of the card if you wish.
Yes, the operator Id label on the drone is in plain sight and matches my card.
Do you want to do a test flight if you have the time, but your insurance will have to cover your flight?
Yes, you have a good day too…
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At the end of the day, the police can and will use alternative methods to achieve the same ending. Suspicion of flying in a FRZ, exceeding the hright limit or other offences that have nothing to do with a drone such has harassment or public order, can all be used to ensure the person at the controls is identified. Any offence will do, so if they want to verify someone they will take an easier route rather than a convoluted one.
And if that’s not in accordance to legislation then it’s kerching!
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Thing is, you can fly within a FRZ if you have the requisite permission from ATC. Any policeman worth his salt just isn’t going to put his job on the line and straight up accuse someone of flying in an area without first checking. He may well ask for your name and address , but as stated previously you have every right to refuse. He could ask if you have permission to fly within a FRZ and you could answer “Yes I do, would you care to check with ATC?” He would then have to check with ATC to confirm. Police cannot simply make blind accusations, leaving their employers open to potential lawsuits.
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lol - police aren’t employed, they hold an office. And they can’t check with ATC to confirm anything if they don’t know who you are. The police are generally poorly trained and drone legislation is not well understood nationally. However if they get to the point of requiring your details there will generally be a power or legislation behind it, so getting awkward or trying to be clever will only escalate things to a negative outcome.
Yor example of a FRZ is a good one - if a local officer knew where a FRZ was and saw a drone flying within it they have all they need to request your identify and confirm you have the relevant permission. And its not so much blind accusations but that is how police operate, they try and identify offences and can reasonably suspect people of them, which when they reach that point opens up various powers of detainment, search, seizure and arrest. How they justify reaching that point is undocumented and objective, and will vary for every single person - hence the inconsistency. As for lawsuits - there are hundreds of complaints made every day about policing, its to be expected.
All - don’t believe I’ve seen other alternatives mentioned, thus a view on one I and others use.
Prior to flight check for any flight issues/contentions for the flight area (DroneAssist). In any event call Police 101 - outline your flight intent (timing and location) - get a police number and then submit and complete the DroneAssist report.
In certain situations the FRZ authority (normally ATC) have also wanted a police #.
Used this in FRZ and other high risk zones across the UK, and more normally is part of my flight routine - takes sub 3mins.
Have had a squad car role up to me once and the officers check it’s me and then spent 20mins distracting me while we chatted about drone types.
Suggest we’ll see such cross “reporting” become a norm. Currently I’ve only had the Scottish police ask for flight credentials (F/ID & O/ID) when pre-reporting, but then I was flying by Lossiemouth.
Hi @CPGoulding, it looks as though you’re quite new here 
Why not nip over to the Introductions page, and say hello properly and tell us a bit about yourself. 
Reasonable Suspicion of an offence - failing to cooperate with the officer - okay no problem - Section25 of PACE ….arrested until such time as
- Details obtained
- Suspicion of offence
- De-arrested and reported for summons
- Or no offence to answer - no further action
- Goodbye - but this could’ve been dealt with if you’d cooperated in the first place …
Full explanation below
Section 25 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) outlines the circumstances under which a constable can arrest a person for a non-arrestable offense when service of a summons is impracticable or inappropriate. This section specifies the “general arrest conditions” that must be met for an arrest to be lawful in such situations.
Key aspects of Section 25:
- Non-arrestable offense:
The offense must be one for which a person cannot be arrested without a warrant.
- Impracticable or inappropriate summons:
The police must believe that serving a summons (a formal notice to appear in court) is not feasible or suitable due to specific circumstances.
- General arrest conditions:
The constable must satisfy at least one of the following conditions:
-
The person’s name is unknown and cannot be readily ascertained.
-
The constable has reasonable doubts about the name provided.
-
The person has not provided a satisfactory address, or the constable has reasonable doubts about the address.
-
Arrest is necessary to prevent the person from causing physical injury, suffering physical injury, damaging property, committing an offense against public decency, obstructing the highway, protecting a vulnerable person, or hindering the investigation or prosecution.
In essence, Section 25 provides a legal framework for police officers to arrest individuals for minor offenses when it’s impractical to simply issue a summons, ensuring a balance between upholding the law and protecting individual liberties.
Make sure you record any interactions for the click bait revenue from YouTube ;o)
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Having been around drones and a member of this forum for many years now, these types of threads always go south very quickly. These types of questions get asked loads of times but even if you use the search function you’ll probably not find any existing threads and is because they only ever end up one way and thats party 1 saying “I’m right you’re wrong” and party 2 saying “Absolutely not I’m right and you’re wrong” and it ends up becoming a usless thread and gets canned by the admins to keep the peace. Hence not finding other threads in a search.
Best advice, abide by the law. Know your rights as UK citizen. And go out and fly and enjoy your hobby.
Use all the tools provided here to make sure you are flying legally, and follow the standard “Don’t be a dick” rule and chances are like many of us experienced drone pilots you’ll probably ever encounter the theoretical scenario you’re inquiring about anyways so its irrelevant.
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Google was it? There are also plenty of other conditions where arrest can be made and prolonged that has nothing to do whatsoever with name or address. Some examples include but are not limited to prompt and effective investigation where deemed necessary, prevention ongoing risk of harm - injury and or damage, there are others, but I think I have already got far too involved trying to assist in this thread so will disengage now. I am off to film a 1.6 million house so will be tied up for the next week at least.
As long as you’re charging a decent percentage, like the agent will be doing, we will all sleep better.
To tie you up for a week remember the national minimum wage would be £457.64.
As someone whom deals with the boys in blue on a regular basis in some form or another i tend to find it is always best to cooperate or be tasered put in bracelets and spend the night on a hard surface with a pot noodle
But seriously if they wanted to they could ask you for a breathalyser test or a drug swob test so don’t push you’re luck Seems more of you think you know more about you’re writes than you’re wrongs
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Well I had a big crash so any film will be a bonus. Luckily drone is ok. But its been quite an afternoon.
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Ouchy.
Did anyone witness?
You get a pot noddle?!?!?!
With the Met your lucky to get bog roll..
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