The CEO of a private drone surveillance company that hopes to set up shop in St. Louis says he’ll sue if the city does not back off from a cease-and-desist issued against his company earlier this week.
Joe Johnson and his company, SMS Novel, began to draw public concern last month when they announced plans to beta test surveillance drones in the skies above the Gravois Park neighborhood by the end of January.
That drew pushback from neighborhood residents and elected leaders.
"A private entity charging citizens to utilize/watch vigilante drone footage is ridiculous, and does nothing to deter crime, and only sacrifices citizen’s liberty at the hand of ill-fated security measures," Alderman Shane Cohn, whose Ward 3 contains a portion of Gravois Park, said at the time.
Seventh Ward Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier told the RFT that she will file legislation tomorrow aimed at regulating private surveillance drones like the ones Johnson hopes to deploy.
On Tuesday, the Post-Dispatch reported that the city's Board of Public Service hit SMS Novel with cease-and-desist letter, saying that if Johnson wanted to fly a drone over city property it was going to need a permit from the city.
Johnson's letter in response may have not been done cooking when it was sent out today. Its first paragraph reads in part: "I must express my deep concern regarding the cease and desist letter dated [date] that was issued to our company."
It goes on to say that, "Any attempt to enforce the cease and desist letter against SMS Novel Films would not only be legally baseless but could also expose the City of St. Louis to significant legal consequences."
Near the end, Johnson again raises the specter of litigation, saying, "We strongly urge the St. Louis Board of Public Service to reconsider and rescind the cease and desist letter issued to SMS Novel Films promptly. Failure to do so may leave us with no alternative but to pursue legal action to protect our rights and interests."
According to the letter, Johnson has consulted a south Florida attorney who specializes in drone law.
The pushback against Johnson's initiative only grew more intense when the RFT reported that he claims to have had drones in the air for the past two months. Johnson said as much in a seven-minute audio clip he sent to the Gravois Park Neighborhood Association. The association opted not to play the audio at its meeting.
"I want to re-emphasize that our app and our operators have been in St. Louis for close to two months now," Johnson says on the tape. "You haven't noticed anything, I don't believe. And it will be the same way when we're doing the beta testing."
The RFT asked Johnson if drones had indeed been in the air for two months and, if so, what specifically they were doing.
Johnson replied that he was limited in what he could say due to "impending litigation."
We asked if the litigation he referred to was the city's cease and desist, his own planned lawsuit, or something else.
He replied, "That’s all I can say for now."
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said that Johnson indicated he had hired a south Florida attorney who specializes in drone law. Johnson's statement actually said he had consulted that attorney, not hired him. We regret the error.
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