Drone advisory panel backs adding drones to obstruction statute, recommends state tools to counter hostile UAS

The Louisiana Advanced Aviation and Drone Advisory Committee voted at its January 2025 meeting to add proposed language to Louisiana Revised Statutes related to obstructing firefighters that would explicitly include unmanned aircraft systems and to recommend state actions to give law enforcement additional counter‑drone tools.

The change was introduced to the committee by Jim Polk of St. Charles Parish, who provided the draft language and testified about local incidents and operational gaps. "I am Jim Polk. I do work for Saint Charles Parish. My area of responsibility is homeland security," Polk said while describing repeated incursions near industrial sites and firefighting operations and urging the committee to add the language to its legislative packet.

The committee’s counter‑drone chair, George Ray Sr., described technical and threat developments driving the recommendation. "These things are quickly being adapted...a lot of the material on the explosive side...is readily available today on the web," Ray…