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Fort Drum, N.Y., Officials Get Clearance to Respond to Unauthorized Drones

Unauthorized drone use could result in criminal prosecution, forfeiture of recordings and loss of installation access privileges.

(TNS) -- New military regulations may give installations like Fort Drum the ability to destroy drones that fly into their airspace.

Specific implementation of the regulations, released privately in July and publicly at the beginning of August, has not been set for Fort Drum, according to post spokeswoman Julie Halpin. An Army memo on the new rules calls on local leadership to develop a local policy for drones.

Halpin said there have been no recorded cases of unauthorized drones flying within the post’s airspace.

However, she said the post had two recent cases of approved drone usage, one for the Aug. 2 change of command ceremony for the post’s garrison commander, and another for the July 15 funeral of state police trooper Joel R. Davis.

The memo said unauthorized drone use could result in criminal prosecution, forfeiture of recordings and loss of installation access privileges.

It said people looking to use drones recreationally must first receive approval from a senior commander or their designee.

With companies like Amazon looking to develop drones for delivery purposes, the Army memo said post residents are prohibited from receiving commercial services originating off post by means of drones.

In a Department of Defense news release, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said new guidance specifies how DoD will interact with local communities about drone restrictions on and near military installations. He noted that FAA rules regulate the use of drones in American air space.

“We support civilian law enforcement investigations in the prosecution of unauthorized UAS operations over military installations,” Capt. Davis said, in a provided statement. “Though we do not discuss specific force-protection measures, we of course retain the right of self-defense. And when it comes to UAS or drones operating over military installations, this new guidance does afford us the ability to take action to stop those threats.”

He said those methods included tracking, disabling and destroying drones, depending on circumstance.

©2017 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.