ok so this happened last weekend and its been bugging me. i was flying at this open field, not a park or anything, just like an empty lot kind of area near an industrial zone. no signs, no nothing. a cop pulled up and told me i had to land immediately because i was flying without a permit. i had my part 107 on me and everything. i asked him what permit he was talking about and he just said the city requires a permit for commercial drone use and i needed to land. here's the thing ? i was NOT doing anything commercial, just flying for fun on my day off. i landed because i didnt want the hassle but honestly i dont think he was right. anyone dealt with this kind of thing

ugh this happens more than people realize. the short answer is ? legally speaking the cop probably didnt have grounds to make you land if you were flying recreationally in unregulated airspace, airspace is federal jurisdiction and local law enforcement cant really override FAA rules. BUT some cities genuinely do have local ordinances that require permits even for hobbyists, which is its own can of worms because theres debate about whether those are even enforceable given federal preemption. practically speaking though, arguing with a cop on the spot almost never goes well. you did the right thing by landing. if you want to fly there again id look up your citys specific municipal code for drones and if theres no ordinance you could technically push back next time, maybe politely show him the FAA recreational rules on your phone or something. some cops just see a drone and assume the worst

yeah the commercial vs recreational thing trips up a lot of officers who havent been trained on this stuff. having your 107 actually might have worked against you weirdly ? he probably saw the cert and just assumed you were doing paid work. i had something similar happen at a beach, ranger told me drones were prohibited, i looked it up later and the actual rule was only for the protected dune area which was like half a mile from where i was standing. sometimes its worth jus doing the research ahead of time and having the relevant regulation pulled up on your phone ready to show. not saying you did anything wrong, the whole legal situation around drones in the US is genuinely confusing even for people who study it