[DavidI]

A couple of years ago, we had an armed barricaded suspect inside a residence. We had a command post, containment, and a tactical team getting ready for the entry. Our helicopter spotted a drone flying over my command post and alerted us. The drone then flew over the target location. We had to temporarily stop our operation to find out who owned the drone and if he/she was streaming it. After about 20 minutes, the battery evidently was discharged and the owner returned it to his location via GPS. Our helicopter directed patrol cars to the location and met the owner who happened to have an unrelated felony arrest warrant. We discovered he was in fact streaming the video as "entertainment" via social media. We were fortunate it was not the armed suspect who would have seen the tactical movements of my team! We were powerless to do anything to take the drone out without endangering the community. Before someone chimes in about shooting it down with a shotgun, think about what goes up also comes down!