For the Reporter

This past October a drone carrying drugs, blades and other contraband crashed into an Oklahoma prison yard. Notably, it was the third high-profile case in that month alone involving the use of a drone to drop contraband over a U.S. prison.

Today Sen. Pam Roach testified before her colleagues on the Senate Law and Justice Committee during a hearing on her measure to deal with the growing problem of “drone smugglers.”

“In other states, they have experienced drones coming in at night and dropping drugs, weapons and other contraband items,” said Roach, R-Sumner. “I don’t know if we have seen this same problem here in Washington – yet – but this is an issue we would like to prevent.

“The technology exists to detect and disable these drones – day or night – and we should move toward identifying and using these solutions.”

Senate Bill 6437 would require the state Department of Corrections to acquire and use technology to detect and deter drone operations near, over, or within correctional facilities.

At the same time, it would allow DOC to authorize, upon receipt of a request, specific drone operations at or near correctional facilities where there is a clear public interest. Roach pointed to drones used by the motion-picture industry as an example of a possible request.

The committee chairman, Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, called on the committee staff and those testifying on the measure to research the cost and effectiveness of the proposal, as implemented in various other states.

In addition to the Oklahoma example, August 2015 also saw a drone drop drugs into an Ohio prison yard, sparking a fight among inmates. According to NBC News, two people were arrested later that month, for allegedly planning to fly a drone with drugs and pornography into a Maryland prison.

“We’re going to have to deal with this problem sooner or later,” said Roach, who is chair of the Senate Government Operations and Security Committee in addition to serving on the Law and Justice Committee. “Let’s be smart and get ahead of it.”

In 2014, Roach was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to serve on the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (or Drone) Task Force. She is one of the Legislature’s leading authorities on drone policy and is the author of the 2015 “Nefarious Drones” bill, which would prohibit an unmanned aerial vehicle from being used for criminal purposes.