During a hearing Monday on a proposal to ban drones from flying over the prison, Sen. Telo Taitague said she and her staff recently used an app to locate drone no-fly zones on Guam, and called up a map of the Mangilao area.
“We actually got a permit, online, to fly the drone over DOC, with no problem,” she said. “Isn’t that ironic?”
Bill 191-38, introduced by Sen. Shawn Gumataotao at the request of the Department of Corrections, would make it illegal to fly drones over the prison, detention facilities, the Department of Youth Affairs and judicial buildings.
Department of Corrections Director Fred Bordallo said federal officials told him that some states were banning drones from flying over prisons and jails, and that Guam should explore legislation that aligns with federal law.
Homeland Security Advisor Esther Aguigui said as technology improves, the threat from drones is evolving faster than the legal framework.
“Drones deliver contraband such as drugs, weapons, cell phones, even tools for escape directly over prison walls and fences,” she said. “These deliveries fuel violence between inmates, undermine rehabilitation, compromise officer safety and enable organized criminal operations from inside detention facilities.”
In 2017, a drone crashed near a housing unit at the Department of Corrections. Aguigui said while the incident appeared to be an accident, it showed how vulnerable the prison was to aerial intrusion.
Charlie Hermosa, CEO of Bell Wings Aviation, said technology exists to protect properties from incursions by drones. He also said the public should understand that drones can’t just be shot from the sky.
“If you bring an aircraft down, whether you throw a rock, whether you shoot it down, or you throw a net, it's a federal offense, and that's one of the things that we're trying to get the public to understand,” he said. “That you just don't bring down a drone, because under the FAA guidelines, it's an aircraft.”
