Robbie, a staff member for the Capitol Commission, briefed the commission on drone detection technology, pending legislation and enforcement limits and requested direction before taking further steps.

The presentation explained why staff believe drone monitoring is needed at the State Capitol and summarized vendor demonstrations, proposed partnerships and legal constraints.

Robbie said drone technology is developing rapidly and raised operational questions: where package-delivery drones would land, whether pilots would seek permission to enter Capitol airspace, how operators would behave during rallies and who currently enforces flight rules. He said Representative Bill Bruck is working on legislation that would address many of these policy questions and that classifying the Michigan State Capitol as critical infrastructure would allow the commission to add a geofence and request formal enforcement.

Robbie described a demonstration with a Michigan company, Airspace Link, which provides software that maps drone flight paths and can, in some circumstances, associate flights with pilot locations. He said Airspace Link’s software is used by clients including Ford Field and Comerica Park and that staff observed dense drone traffic in city-area demonstrations. He said staff are arranging another demonstration with Airspace Link, Michigan State Police and Chair Candler.

Robbie said monitoring drone activity is the first step in the Capitol’s security plan, but emphasized enforcement is not currently in local hands: the Federal Aviation Administration manages drone flight-path filings and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the federal enforcement arm mentioned in the briefing. He also said some carry-forward enforcement authority is being devolved to entities such as airports where local enforcement arrangements exist.

Commission member Bauer asked whether the Capitol was a no-fly zone; Robbie said the commission “has a policy that states we don't want them there,” but that the commission lacks an enforcement arm. Robbie added, “Most of the folks comply. They file their flight path with the FAA.”

Staff said they will continue to monitor developments, conduct vendor demonstrations with Michigan State Police and propose recommendations or requests for legislative or policy action after those briefings.