Counter-UAS Authority for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement and Correctional Agencies
Key claim: DOJ and DHS codify a two-tiered training, certification, and operational framework allowing state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies to conduct counter-UAS detection, warning, and mitigation operations under the SAFER SKIES Act.
Abstract
(Rule · Homeland Security Department, Justice Department) In this interim final rule (“IFR”), the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) (collectively, “the Departments”) codify the framework for implementing the SAFER SKIES Act, which authorizes State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement or correctional (“SLTT”) agencies to conduct counter-unmanned aircraft system (“C-UAS”) operations. This framework governs training and certification (including a two-tiered structure for detection and warning operations and for mitigation operations), authorized technologies, spectrum coordination, airspace approval, real-time air traffic control notification, mitigation reporting, privacy protections, and compliance requirements for SLTT agencies in relation to the exercise of C-UAS authority.
Why this matters
Counter-UAS authority has historically been reserved for a narrow set of federal agencies, so extending detection and mitigation powers to SLTT law enforcement and correctional agencies is a structural shift in how drone threats are policed in the United States. The two-tiered training and certification model shapes who can lawfully intercept drone signals or disable aircraft, with downstream implications for airspace users, drone operators, and privacy oversight. It also sets a template for how emerging-tech enforcement authorities may be devolved from federal to subnational actors under future statutes.