TOWN OF MORRISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Is a drone invading people’s privacy in rural Brown County? Some residents say yes, but the drone operator residents are accusing of going too far says he’s done nothing wrong and won’t be changing his flying ways.
The sheriff’s department says the back and forth between residents in southern Brown County has been happening for months. However, the sheriff’s department says there’s nothing it can do, as the airspace is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Mike Evans says he’s been flying drones for 15 years.
“It’s kind of like therapy to me.”
Evans says he never knew anyone had a problem with his hobby until someone recently shot one of his drones mid-flight.
“I kept flying because it’s not against the law.”
Evans says the situation escalated a few days ago when people showed up to his house, asking him to stop flying over their Town of Morrison properties.
“I can fly anywhere I want to fly. Anywhere up here as long as it’s not around an airport, prison. There’s some restrictions, but this is unrestricted airspace here.”
The residents who are taking issue told FOX 11 they wouldn’t do on camera interviews out of fear of retaliation, but they have brought their concerns to their county supervisor, Devon Coenen.
“He’s flying all hours of the day, sometimes into the night, looking into their windows, following their children,” said Coenen of what residents have told her. “The kids are screaming and coming home terrorized. They feel harassed, extremely harassed. They just don’t understand why. They’ve asked for it to stop. It just seems to continue to get worse.”
“For them to say I’m flying around their children is absolutely disgusting,” said Evans.
Evans tells us the neighbors complaining are two miles away and putting his drone below 100 feet that far away would cause a loss of signal. He also showed us what he can see from his sport drone, which he says is more for acrobatics.
“The airspace starts from the tops of the blades of the grass and goes up to about 60,000 feet,” said Captain John Rousseau of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.
Rousseau says the sheriff’s department has received at least eight complaints about a drone from the Town of Morrison area since early July, which has forced him to become somewhat of a drone-law expert.
“There are limitations on who can fly, what can fly, and if you have to register your drone. There are some limitations in that regard, but generally the airspace is kept open and available for use by everybody.”
Rousseau has advised anyone with an issue to get evidence to submit to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We’re limited on what we can enforce. We can’t enforce any federal statutes. So even if something is against a federal statute, we don’t have the enforcement ability to do anything about that.”
The sheriff’s department says some residents have submitted photos and videos to the FAA showing where the drone is in relation to themselves, their property or family members. So far, the FAA has not determined anything illegal has happened.
“They have all said that these were legal flights, operated in a responsible manner,” said Rousseau.
“This goes to show you have crybabies over there,” said Evans. “A better word would be a Karen. You know what a Karen is? That is a Karen right over there.”
“I believe he is crossing a line, but to find out what that line is and what we can do about that is where we’re at now and hopefully we can do something,” said Coenen.
In the meantime, Evans says he is going to keep flying, whether his neighbors like it or not.
“I can do whatever I want,” said Evans. “I don’t care whose property it is, I can fly over there, no problem.”
The sheriff’s department says situations like this are happening across the country. They’re telling people if they want to see airspace laws changed, to contact their federal representatives.
