The Aurora City Council approved an agreement Monday night between Buckley Space Force Base, the Aurora Police Department and the Denver Field Office of the FBI to help Buckley officials track down people who illegally operate drones in its airspace. 

The agreement was formed to “assist, respond, detect, detain and investigate” and passed unanimously with no discussion during Monday night’s council meeting.

The use of drones in Department of Defense restricted airspace has “continued to grow,” according to documents, posing a threat to the base. This is not a new threat, according to a Buckley statement, but is an essential one to keep up with. 

“It is imperative that we plan for and evolve our defenses in proactive and innovative ways to ensure the safety and security of our personnel and essential missions,” Buckley officials wrote in a statement.

Military law enforcement does not have jurisdiction to detain drone operators off the Buckley property without the help of civilian law enforcement, so partnering with Aurora Police Department officers will help them catch people operating drones above the base, documents said.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said in a Facebook post Monday that there have been a reported rise of incidents where drones have been used to gather intelligence on United State military installations. 

“Aurora must work with the Department of Defense and the FBI to do all we can to help protect the sensitive missions at the base that our critical to our national security,” Coffman said on Facebook.

In 2018, a Buckley news release said drones can be a serious security risk and are difficult to find at high altitudes. 

“You don’t know what the intention is of the person flying the drone,” Paul Christinson, 460th Security Forces Squadron detective, said in the news release. “They can be used to collect intelligence and some have even been used to drop payloads that can be lethal.”

When the release was published, the space force base had recently seen four incidents with drones. Christinson urged anyone who sees a drone in the Buckley area to contact security forces. 

For people who want to legally fly drones near the space force base, Cherry Creek State Park is a “great place” for drone flyers, he added. 

All drones over 0.55 pounds have to be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the FAA website.