NEWS

Westchester bans drones near county jail

New law comes after incidents where drones dropped contraband to inmates.

Mark Lungariello
mlungariel@lohud.com
Vinny Garrison of FlyingFilmsNY flies a quadcopter drone at the Outdoor Education Center in Nanuet in December 2014.

Westchester County has banned drones within 1,000 feet of the county jail over concerns they could be used to drop contraband to inmates.

Those who remotely pilot a drone too close to the jail in Valhalla will face a civil penalty and fine up to $1,000 on the first offense. Break the law a second time and you could be charged with a misdemeanor.

“This legislation, along with the detection equipment we are installing, should help to provide a level of safety to both correction staff and inmates alike,” Bruce Donnelly, president of the Westchester County Correction Superior Officers Association, a union which represents jail supervisors, said in a statement.

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Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, haven’t been used to drop contraband in Westchester, according to county officials, but that has been the case at other jails.

A drone was used in August 2015 at Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio to drop tobacco, marijuana and heroin, leading to a fist fight that ended with nine inmates put in solitary confinement.

The same month, authorities foiled an attempt to use a drone to drop handguns, drugs and pornographic videos into a Maryland jail.

Drone users face restrictions on where and why they can fly. The Federal Aviation Administration has rules for commercial use of drones and requires registration for all users. It also blocks flying higher than 400 feet and near an airport. Rockland County passed a law last year limiting drone flights to a user’s private property.

The law went into effect after it was unanimously approved by the 17-member county Board of Legislators on March 6.

Twitter: @marklungariello