Two Articles From Los Angeles and Baltimore Show Police Plan Increased Use of Drones, and the People Oppose Them
Anti-Drone Activists Warn Of LAPD ‘Mission Creep’ At Downtown Rally
by Pete Demetriou
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Community activists Thursday held a rally at City Hall against the recent acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – or drones – by the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to the LAPD, these small aircrafts can only stay in the air for about 20 minutes and would have limited use in certain circumstances, such as hostage situations.
KNX 1070’s Pete Demetriou reports about a dozen protesters with the Drone-Free LAPD/No Drones, LA! campaign staged a demonstration across from LAPD Headquarters downtown.
The group first called for limits on the use of drone technology by the LAPD in an Aug. 20 letter (PDF) addressed to Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“We believe the acquisition of drones signify a giant step forward in the militarization of local law enforcement that is normalizing continued surveillance and violations of human rights of our communities,” said coalition spokesman Hamid Kahn.
The letter addressed to Garcetti referred to potential “mission creep” in using drone surveillance technology in partnership with programs such as the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) program, which the group claims “has resulted in the openings of thousands of secret files on people engaging in perfectly innocent behavior.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Garcetti’s office responded to the letter.
KCAL9’s Randy Paige spoke with protestors outside of City Hall who said that they would make sure that their message, “Drone free, LAPD,” would be made clear to the mayor’s representative, who was summoned to hear their concerns.
“We don’t want the LAPD to use drones in Los Angeles in any capacity whatsoever,” said Xander Snyder of Restore the Fourth.
LAPD Spokesman Bruce Borhian said that the department aircrafts are still being held in a secure location by a federal agency and have a ways to go before being approved or deployed.
“It’s gonna go through a lengthy approval process by our Police Commission, the chief, and various civil rights groups we’re gonna reach out to,” said Borhian. “We’re not going to sacrifice the public trust for any pieces of equipment.”
During an appearance on KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO’s “Ask The Mayor” program in June, Garcetti signaled the drones would remain grounded until lawmakers can establish specific policies governing their use.
“I’ve asked them to be grounded until we have a policy, until we have community input,” Garcetti said. “I don’t want these things up in the air until we know for sure they’re not going to be used against innocent folks.”
In May, the LAPD announced the acquisition of two DraganFlyer X6 Drones from the Seattle Police Department using federal grants.
Many Consider Police Drone Use An Invasion Of Privacy
by Mike Hellgren
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Police are increasingly using drones in high risk situations but some fear a loss of privacy and say law enforcement is going too far.
Mike Hellgren has more on how police departments in Maryland are handling drone use.
Many police agencies believe that for high risk situations—including standoffs and car accidents—drones with cameras can be useful tools.
“We may send this over to see where they’re at, especially if they’ve got a gun. I mean, I don’t want to see this get shot out of the air but I’d rather have that than an officer shot,” said an official.
A growing number of police departments in more than a dozen states are using drones and while several in Maryland are considering it, none use drones—for now.
Baltimore County’s police chief says he’s concerned about drones invading people’s privacy and his department has no plans to get a drone in the foreseeable future.
In a WJZ investigation into drone use in Maryland, the ACLU says it, too, has strong concerns about the violation of privacy.
“That is completely incompatible with a free society and I think poses real dangers and is a real possibility unless we act to prevent it,” said David Rocah.
A drone-police controversy is playing out right now in Los Angeles, where protests erupted over possible law enforcement use.
“We do not want LAPD to use drones in Los Angeles in any capacity whatsoever,” said Xander Snyder, Restore the Fourth.
Drones could also be used to catch speeders and gather intelligence during police raids—all of it monitored remotely.
Right now, though, law enforcement drone use is still in its infancy with police needing written approval from the Federal Aviation Administration—and even then, they have tight rules, including that police drones can only be flown in daylight.
While Maryland law enforcement has not embraced the technology, some experts believe all that will take is time.
“There’s no stopping this technology. Anyone who thinks they can put this technology back in the box, that’s silliness,” said drone expert Peter Singer.
In Mexico, several police agencies are using drones to monitor high-crime areas. They often fly higher than the 400 foot limit that the FAA set for police drones in the US.