Man Allegedly Flew Drone to Film Queensway Police’s Special Operations Command Base

By
Rae Woo
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Owning a drone can get you multiple perks.

If you’re part of a photography enthusiast group, your status will probably be elevated, until you become the coolest one in the bunch and everyone will be begging to borrow it.

You can even get killer aerial photos and videos of the scenery wherever you’re at, just like the overhead scenes you see during National Day.

Or even in spy movies, where people use it for spying on confidential locations, because the sky’s the limit for what you can do with a drone, right?

Nope, there are limitations even in the sky – watch out, for you can get arrested if you don’t stick to the rules of flying.

Drone Used For Illegal Filming Near Police’s Special Operations Command Base

There are some things you’re just not meant to see, especially when it comes to the work of our line of defence.

Singapore’s police force actually have a base where they hold the headquarters of the Special Operations Command, which comprises specialist police units that take care of emergency situations.

Hostage and rescue missions are handled by the Special Tactics and Rescue unit, while the Police Tactical Unit is tasked with maintaining public order during riots and other situations.

The base is also home to the Police K-9 unit, which handles the service police dogs in charge of detecting searches and tracking activities.

So you can only imagine how top secret the operations base is, on top of it being a protected area away from curious eyes.

However, on 31 Jan, the police received a report that there had been a drone sighting near the base in Queenstown’s Mei Chin Road.

The incident had later been traced to a 68-year-old Singaporean man who operated the drone, and had allegedly taken aerial photos and videos where the base could be seen.

No Permit To Operate Drone There 

Drones are, after all, classified under unmanned aircraft, for they can reach high altitudes.

According to investigations, he had flown the drone more than 200ft, or 61m, above the average sea level – which is considered to be quite high.

At that height, drones could possibly be dangerous to aircraft and cause aerial accidents.

Apparently, the man had failed to get a Class 2 activity permit before doing so, and will thus be charged for one count of flying an unmanned aircraft without the permit under the Air Navigation Act.

Class 2 activity permits are required to operate such unmanned aircraft outdoors for recreational purposes as long as it doesn’t exceed 25kg.

This carries a penalty of not more than two years of jail, a fine of not more than S$50,000 or both.

Additionally, he faces another charge under the same act for taking prohibited photographs of a prohibited area with an unmanned aircraft.

For doing so, he could face a jail term of up to two years in jail, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both as well.

So now you know that taking photos and videos of things you’re not supposed to actually carry very heavy penalties.

If you’re a drone owner, you can use the OneMap.sg website or mobile app to check whether you’re able to operate an unmanned aircraft in a certain area without a permit.

It’s also been made compulsory for aircraft owners to obtain either an unmanned aircraft basic training certificate (UABTC) or unmanned aircraft pilot licence (UAPL) before operating it in Singapore.

Such permits can be applied for with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

Since the cats at Goody Feed don’t have this license, we can’t take atas aerial shots. But, we bring you around Singapore (sometimes) and take aesthetic videos like this:

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Featured Image: Dmitry Kalinovsky/ Shutterstock.com

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Rae Woo
Email: [email protected]