In May 2019, City Council of Fort Wayne, Indiana, approved an ordinance that requires drone operators to notify the city police department of plan to fly in specific areas and during large public events. “Our goal is to not restrict people from flying, just to make sure people know what they’re doing and if there’s an issue, we can have some knowledge of it and fix it,” said police department. 

Under the ordinance, drone operators would have to fill out a form located on the city website with their name, address, telephone number and an explanation of the purpose of the drone flight. The documentation is meant to be non-prohibitive and give the police department knowledge of who is flying at any given time in the downtown area. 

There is also an enforcement mechanism that allows the police department to address unsafe flights. Drones could be impounded for a period of time and fines could be imposed. According to the ordinance, violations carry penalties of up to $500 and drones or control boxes could be impounded for up to three days.