Who Polices Us

[BryanD]

PatM hit the nail on the head:

"The problem is; there are rules without a true policing body to enforce them."

Unforunately, Local Law Enforcement is the lowest common denominator to enforce the laws. And they, don't have the authority to enforce Federal Laws and usually don't have the knowledge to enforce Local Laws. But there are the Barney Fife's out there (showing my age, Google it if you don't understand) who will overstep their authority. I have not experienced this yet but the Barney's out there potentially have the ability to hamper our operations - at least temporarily.

 

[BryanD]

And the unfortunate reality is that if you happened to loose your certification while trying to operate legally, you could then operate illegally and still make money. I am NOT suggesting that anyone SHOULD so that. Just pointing out the unfortunate reality.

 

[AH-1G]

PatM hit the nail on the head:

"The problem is; there are rules without a true policing body to enforce them."

Unforunately, Local Law Enforcement is the lowest common denominator to enforce the laws. And they, don't have the authority to enforce Federal Laws and usually don't have the knowledge to enforce Local Laws. But there are the Barney Fife's out there (showing my age, Google it if you don't understand) who will overstep their authority. I have not experienced this yet but the Barney's out there potentially have the ability to hamper our operations - at least temporarily.

I agree, the FAA does not want to deal with their rules and regulations they imposed, rather hoping to have some other enforcement agency take on the responsibility. But that takes man power an money, which is not available at the local level. I fear it will take a catastrophic event before eyes are opened and then the blame game begins.

 

[Dave Pitman]

The FAA isn't interested in enforcing anything without damage and LLE doing all the work at this point. I have turned folks in with their name, contact, and video proof of the activity on more than one occasion and nothing was ever done, even the video and advertising for commercial work by a non-certified operator remained up after the FAA was notified. I have my own objective proof that they do nothing so I'm very cynical.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I agree, the FAA does not want to deal with their rules and regulations they imposed, rather hoping to have some other enforcement agency take on the responsibility. But that takes man power an money, which is not available at the local level. I fear it will take a catastrophic event before eyes are opened and then the blame game begins.

The FAA really only needs to nail a handful of violators to make a difference. Can you guess the reaction if a Realtor without a 107 was hit with a $10k fine per image on their listings that they did not have proof of origin from a certified op !!! The others would get the hint real quick. That's just one example.

 

[BryanD]

Dave P, I understand your cynicism. I have always felt that these new laws/rules that are being imposed put us "law abiding citizens" at a disadvantage.

I am surprised to hear that after you did most of the leg work that they did not do anything. Very disheartening!

 

[Tim Jones]

That is fairly common for the people informing the FAA about issues. In fact so far I dont think I have heard of anyone actually getting assistance when they go to FAA with facts