Follow the Coalition:
Drone-Free LAPD/No Drones, LA!:
Join Us! Tuesday, September 2nd at 6:30pm for a meeting to further the
campaign against LAPD’s drones! Location: LA CAN 838 E. 6th Street, Los
Angeles.
Next General Coalition Meeting: Join Us! Tuesday September 16th at 6:30pm for our monthly general Coalition Meeting. Location: TBA
Campaign Launch: Drone-Free LAPD/No Drones, LA!
On Thursday, August
21st the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, along with the National Lawyers
Guild, Restore the Fourth, Islamic Shura Council, and other groups and
community members officially launched the Drone-Free LAPD/ No Drones,
LA! campaign to stop the LAPD from using their recently acquired drones.
Over 40 participants with over 20 media outlets, attended the launch
which included a press conference, theatre, and a march to the Mayor’s
office. The community was energized and focused, sending a clear message
to the Mayor, City Hall and the LAPD Police Commission - “Angelenos reject the use of drones by the LAPD and expect the Mayor to listen and to heed to the communities’ demand.”
On August 12th the Drone-Free LAPD/No Drones, LA! Campaign sent a letter
to Mayor Eric Garcetti detailing various concerns regarding the LAPD's
acquisition and proposed usage of drones. This letter requested an
urgent meeting with the Mayor, however the Mayor's office stated he was
too busy and could not meet with community for at least a month. With
the intention to deliver a packet of information and to schedule a
meeting with the Mayor, community members marched to his office after
the press conference. The LAPD, however, closed the entrance into City
Hall refusing access to community members and other unaffiliated persons
seeking to do business at a public facility. A representative from the
Mayor's office eventually came down to address our concerns. We were
told that our issues would be taken to the Mayor with a follow up in
regards to a request for a meeting but also with an explanation as to
why police officers made an indiscriminate decision to close a public
building when no safety concern was present.
To date we have not confirmed a meeting with the Mayor’s office.
Stay tuned!
For further information please email: stoplapdspying@gmail.com or call (424) 209-7450
Follow the Coalition: http://nodronesla.org/No_Drones,_LA!/home.html and http://nodronesla.tumblr.com/
Will We Sleep Or Will We Fight!??!
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| Keep LAPD DRONE FREE! FOLLOW: @noDRONESla @stoplapdspying |
In the Media: Check out the various articles and media coverage this event generated below.
Drone Activists warn of “Mission Creep” at Downtown Rally. Read More….
Anti-Spying Coalition Launches campaign against LAPD Drones. Read More…
Drone-Free LAPD? Read More…
Protesters Rally at City Hall against LAPD Drones. Read More…
Drone-Free LAPD Demanded by activists. Read More…
LAPD Thinks it’s at War and Now it Has Drones. Read More...
‘Drone-Free LAPD!’ LA residents protest police spy drones. Read More…
Backlash against Police Militarization. Read More...
Group Against Drones. Read More...
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| See the Stop LAPD Spying website for more info. |
We say No to Drones in LA and need to stop LAPD’s recent acquisition of drones and make sure these drones never get off the ground in our town! Join us Tuesday July 15th at 6:30pm at the Downtown UCLA Labor Center at 675 S. Park View Ave., Los Angeles - adjacent to MacArthur Park.
Will We Sleep Or Will We Fight!??!
Join the Facebook event and invite others!
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| Draganflyer X6 drone |
BACKGROUND
Nearly a year ago,the Seattle Police Department acquired two 3.5lbs Draganflyer X6 drones through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The community of Seattle actively resisted the city’s attempt to use drones in a highly fueled public hearing at the Seattle City Council with community residents chanting “No Drones!” and ”Murderers!” The public uproar over privacy rights and police spying compelled the mayor to scrap the program permanently before the drones got off the ground. However, the Canadian manufacturer who built the drones refused to take them back. This prompted Seattle to “gift” them to our Los Angeles Police Department.
It comes as no surprise that LAPD was given these drones. In fact, this is not the first time LAPD has talked about drones. Earlier in February LAPD was in Israel during their “Big Data” conference looking at drones called “Hovermast”. “Hovermast” drones can be used for spying and even crowd control.
The acquisition of these drones in the larger context of the LAPD Architecture of surveillance, spying and infiltration demonstrates the continued militarization of the LAPD. Embedded within this infrastructure is an enormous array of electronic and human surveillance programs and devices such as - Trapwire, Stingray, Hi Definition Cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers, Suspicious Activity Reporting, Special Order 1, iWATCH, Predictive Policing, and the Safer Cities Initiative.
Along with violating our basic human rights, the potential for destruction of lives and property remains high. As reported on June 23, 2014 by the Washington Post: “When Drones Fall From The Sky - more than 400 large US military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001,” highlighting “a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open [our] skies to drone traffic.” [See: California: Is the Sky Falling?]
Though Chief Beck is publicly stating he is seeking community input, he never sought community input while LAPD was at the Big Data Convention in Israel admiring the use of Hovermast. Chief Beck went public claiming to arrange a meeting with the American Civil Liberties Union to quell public shock in regards to privacy violation. In an article released by L.A. Times ACLU is quoted stating they never agreed to such a formal meeting with LAPD.
The people of Los Angeles say NO! to drones too - We can’t let LA be the dumping ground for other cities. We are the community and we are not going to wait for a public hearing or for Chief Beck to speak to advocacy groups. We say: No Drones Here or Anywhere!
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