FAA | Section 366 Public Safety Community Support and

Engagement Plan

Federal Aviation Administration Page 1

August 2019

Description

In Section 366 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, Congress directed the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) to develop a comprehensive strategy for providing support to state and local governments, and guidance

for local law enforcement agencies and first responders, on 1) how to identify and respond to public safety

threats posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), also known as ‘drones,’ and 2) how to identify

opportunities to use drones to enhance the effectiveness of local law enforcement agencies and first responders.

Objectives

Response and Enforcement

 Educate the public safety community so they understand how to distinguish between, and respond to,

authorized and unauthorized/unsafe drone operations.

 Inform them about available FAA resources to support the use of their authority.

 Inform them about the FAA’s enforcement practices.

 Inform them about the already existing local and state authorities that may be applicable.

How to fly drones safely in support of their mission

 Provide information and engagement on how to start a drone program.

 Identify what type of authorization an operation requires, options available, and how to apply for the

appropriate authorizations, e.g., waiver, authorization, or Certificate of Authorization (COA).

 Help them understand how and when to use the Special Government Interest (SGI) process.

Where to go for help

 Where to find FAA UAS information: FAA.GOV is the first stop – available toolbox.

 When and how to contact FAA Law Enforcement Assistant Program (LEAP) agents.

 When and how to contact other FAA resources, such as the FAA Help Desk.

 Promote participation and engagement during interactive FAA webinars, via Q&As on social media, and

at UAS conferences, professional association meetings, and events.

Key Messages

Distinguish between Authorized and Unauthorized UAS Operations (Law Enforcement)

 Flying drones is a regulated activity. There are federal rules for flying drones legally and safely.

 Flying at night, too close to airports, and over/too close to people are not generally permissible under

federal rules without FAA authorization.

 The small UAS Rule, Part 107, provides the regulatory framework for operating a small drone in the

national airspace.

 Federal airspace rules apply from the ground up.

 LEAP agents can help you distinguish between what is allowed/not allowed under federal rules.

 Resources are available on our website to help you make the distinction.
FAA | Section 366 Public Safety Community Support and

Engagement Plan

Federal Aviation Administration Page 2

Respond to Unauthorized or Unsafe Operations (Law Enforcement)

 Understand your local and state authorities and apply these authorities to drone operations as applicable.

o Destruction of property

o Violation of privacy/Peeping Tom laws

o Trespassing

o Reckless endangerment

 Directly interfering/taking down a drone may violate federal laws.

o Generally, private citizens may not take down a drone that is flying over their property.

o Relief from federal laws applicable to Counter-UAS systems is limited to certain specified 

federal agencies. 

How to use drones safely to support your mission (Law Enforcement/First Responders)

 The FAA supports the use of drones for public safety missions and the development of public safety 

drone programs. 

 The small UAS Rule, Part 107, provides the regulatory framework for operating a small drone in the 

national airspace. 

o Public entities can operate under Part 107 or utilize authorized Part 107 operators. 

o Public entities may be eligible to fly public aircraft operations.

o There are special rules for operating UAS for emergency response purposes. 

 The FAA can help you get started by assisting with the type of authorization an operation requires, and 

how to apply for it (waiver, airspace authorization, or public COA).

 The FAA can provide guidance to Public Safety agencies that have questions about how to establish a 

drone program.

Audience:

 Public safety groups at the federal, state, and local levels:

o Law Enforcement Agencies

o Fire Departments

o Emergency Management Departments

o Search and Rescue Organizations

o State Departments of Transportation

o State Attorneys

o State Fusion Centers

o Law Enforcement/Public Safety Associations

o FEMA and State Emergency Management Agencies

o National Guard

o U.S. Forest Service

o Community safety advocacy groups

Spokespersons

 FAA Administrator

 Associate Administrator/Deputy Associate Administrator for Security and Hazardous Materials Safety

 Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety

 Executive Director, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office

 Director, National Security Programs and Incident Response
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Engagement Plan

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Background

The public safety community, consisting of law enforcement, fire, medical, emergency management, vector

control, and other first responders, is increasingly using drones in their operations. Law Enforcement needs to

be able to distinguish between authorized and unauthorized drone use, and know how to respond to situations

involving unsafe and/or unauthorized drone use. 

Drone regulations, technology, and processes are changing rapidly, and the FAA must be able to convey timely,

accurate, and relevant information on a regular basis to improve regulatory compliance and maintain safety in

the airspace.

Tactics Overview: Webinars, Videos, Email Marketing and Social Media

The FAA’s Lines of Business are working as a team with the Office of Communications to build new resources

for this growing public safety drone community: web content, creative collateral (e.g., brochures, posters, wallet

cards), social media, videos, and a webinar series.

Webinar Structure / Process

 15 minutes of content presented by FAA and/or with a public safety official

 30 minutes live Q&A

 Make webinar recording available on-demand by posting it on YouTube and posting a transcript of the

Q&A on the FAA website

 After webinar, send attendees the link to the webinar recording, encouraging them to share the link, and

promote the next webinar through GovDelivery

1. Drone Safety: It’s the Law

On March 6, 2019, the FAA hosted a webinar Public Safety: It’s the Law to cultivate an ongoing

conversation with the public safety community. Our goal was to educate and empower them to use their

existing authority to respond to unauthorized drone activity and prompt them to engage with our LEAP

agents before an event, as well as use our online tools. This was the first of three webinars for 2019, which

also address how to start a drone program and emergency operations. The webinar was attended by 410

people, and we responded to 192 questions over three hours. We used targeted GovDelivery email

marketing to reach this specific audience. We sent five GovDelivery emails to a specific list we built for the

public safety community. Our “open” rate ranged from 47 to 86 percent, far above the average government

open rate of 12 to 14 percent, and the FAA’s average of 31 percent, since last year. We posted the recording

of the webinar on FAA’s YouTube channel on our drone webinar playlist.
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Engagement Plan

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2. Starting a Drone Program

On June 19, 2019, the FAA hosted Starting a Drone Program for public safety agencies. We provided a

presentation on the two options for starting a drone program, as well as reviewing various COAs, followed

by a live Q&A discussion. There were 716 Attendees, and a 61percent attendance rate (the total number of

attendees over the total number of registrants). There was 99.86 percent total average attentiveness (the

average percentage of the number of attendees who had the GoToWebinar viewer on top of all other

applications). We received and responded to 171 questions during the webinar.

We posted the recording of the webinar on FAA’s YouTube channel, on our drone webinar playlist.

3. How Public Safety Agencies can Fly Drones During Emergencies

The FAA will host How Public Safety Agencies can Fly Drones during Emergencies on

September 12, 2019, at 4 P.M. ET. This webinar is designed specifically for all drone pilots who fly for a 

public safety agency, including law enforcement, fire, and emergency responders. Our experts will explain 

how attendees can expedite their application for an authorization or waiver under the Special Governmental 

Interest Process so they can fly during emergencies.

A fourth webinar is planned for FY2020, which will be designed around the use of Counter-UAS (C-UAS) 

technologies. Public Safety agencies have questions about who is authorized to use C-UAS, under what 

circumstances, and in what locations. Our experts will discuss limitations of detection and mitigation 

systems, and the current laws that permit their use by certain Federal agencies. (Presentation date for this 

webinar is to be determined.)
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Engagement Plan

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On-Demand Videos

The videos used for roll calls or officer training will also be available on demand. Five short videos with

targeted messages are planned.

Video Topics

1. Enforcement of drones (roll call/on demand; completed December 19, 2018)

2. How can I fly? (on demand)

3. How do I start a drone program? (recommend industry video, possibly joint with FAA)

4. Counter-UAS (roll call/on demand)

5. Understanding the airspace (on demand)

The FAA has posted videos on our social media platforms of law enforcement officers and fire department

personnel talking about how they successfully use drones to support daily operations. These videos are very

powerful and foster good engagement.

Additional Tactics

 Develop a dynamic online repository for all information resources (documents, videos, etc.) Drive

people to the public safety page on FAA.gov/UAS.

 Promote content through email marketing (GovDelivery): Drive public safety agencies to our public

safety content on FAA.gov and our You Tube drone webinar playlist. Encourage participation in

webinars and live twitter Q&A.

 Continuously build and refine public safety email lists and social media account tags.

 Explore industry partnerships to further develop products that support Law Enforcement.

2019 Activities

 Develop video scripts.

 Continue three-part webinar series.

 Develop new web, social media, and email marketing content for the public safety community.

 Drive public safety community to new web content and Support Center via:

o Social Media, including monitoring and Twitter Q&A (may be used in specific messages)

o Email marketing

o Media outreach to relevant publications (e.g., Police Chief and Fire Chief magazines)

o Webinars

o Videos

o Conferences/events

o FAA executive and staff speaking opportunities
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 Familiarize FAA aviation safety inspectors and LEAP agents with new web content via General

Aviation Safety Assurance (GASA) outreach briefings and other briefings, as needed.

 Educate Aviation Safety Inspector and Aviation Safety Technician workforce on LEAP agent

responsibilities to reduce duplication of effort and increase consistency.

 Strengthen and expand partnerships with external stakeholders (public safety organizations and

state/local government agencies) to help deliver, develop, and market content.

 Establish routine coordination with the Interagency Security Committee to inform about FAA drone

enforcement policy and promote interagency sharing of the safety message.

 Deploy hashtags: #FlySafe, #Drones4LEO, #Drones4Safety.

 Increase in-person public safety outreach efforts at widely-attended national and local conferences,

including annual meetings of large public safety and law enforcement associations (e.g., International

Association of Chiefs of Police), as budget permits.

 Invite feedback from, and/or survey, the public safety community to ensure their needs are being met by

our efforts.

FAA UAS Symposium

The 2019 FAA UAS Symposium was held June 3-5 with the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems

International (AUVSI) in Baltimore. We promoted the event specifically to public safety agencies and

engaged with them at the event. Many public safety official and law enforcement officers participated in

video interviews that we then posted on our social media platforms to share their best practices on starting a

drone program. The Symposium had nine discussions, including a meet-and-greet, to educate them on the

rules and help them to safely adopt this technology and integrate it into their operations, as well as answer

questions about response to unauthorized operations. Overall, the FAA pushed a total of 158 social media

posts from June 3-5 on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. There were 1,357,133 total

impressions; 42,751,534 potential reach; 47 total videos, 61 promotions for upcoming sessions, 15

livestream sessions, and 56 Instagram Story segments. We livestreamed many of the key panels and

presentations and posted those videos on FAA’s You Tube channel. We then sent a GovDelivery email to

our public safety list to drive them to our YouTube and web content.
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Engagement Plan

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Playbook

The FAA has developed a No Drone Zone Public Safety Small Drone Playbook. The playbook is intended

to be a resource for public safety officials conducting investigations regarding drones, such as dealing with

drones flying in Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) that specifically limit aircraft operations, including

authorized drones, in a defined geographic area. 

Web Content

The FAA’s web content for public agencies includes information on how to operate a drone and start a

program, and understanding one’s authority, including how to handle sightings and reports, all in a public

safety toolkit that includes a Law Enforcement Pocket Card and printable guides.

Conclusion / Way Ahead

Multiple lines of business have worked collaboratively to design and implement a communication plan for

the public safety community. We will continue to develop new products as regulations change and

guidance is revised. We will invite feedback from the public safety community in order to gauge our

effectiveness and improve our messaging.