Nebraska proposal sets criminal rules for tracking, drones, and swatting

A person would be barred from knowingly installing a tracking device, using it to track someone or their property, or keeping it in place after consent is revoked. The rule covers mobile tracking devices placed on another person’s property or used to track another person or that property. The rule would not apply to devices used under specified state tracking laws or a court order. It would not apply to listed parents, guardians, caregivers, businesses, government entities, private investigators, vehicle owners or lessors, and certain aircraft operators when the stated conditions are met. Consent would be treated as revoked after direct notice, certain divorce or separation filings, or notice of a protection order.

A drone operator would have to show the drone’s current federal registration certificate when a peace officer asks and would be barred from flying in restricted airspace without required approval and notice. The rules cover anyone who launches, operates, or causes a drone to operate in Nebraska, including in federal restricted areas and certain FAA-controlled airspace. Operation in restricted airspace would require Federal Aviation Administration approval and compliance with its conditions. Before operating in a restricted area, the operator would have to notify state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction there. A violation would be a Class III misdemeanor.

A person would commit swatting by knowingly making a false or misleading emergency report that causes responders to be dispatched. The rule covers false reports of crime, medical emergencies, or fires made to law enforcement, emergency call centers, or other emergency-response organizations by any communication method. The person must know or reasonably be expected to know that the report is false or misleading. The offense would generally be a Class I misdemeanor. It would become a Class II felony if it causes serious bodily injury or makes an officer deploy or threaten deadly force, and a Class IB felony if it causes a death. After conviction, the court would order payment of reasonable victim and government costs caused by the offense.