August 21 Report: Demand a Drone-Free LAPD

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

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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!??!

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...


 

See the Stop LAPD Spying website for more info.

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition invites you to our monthly General Coalition Meeting. Join us in planning the “No Drones in LA!” campaign. Communities across the world are speaking out and taking action against Drones. They spy, they kill, they crash.

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!

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!

Town Hall on Drones: Informing Policy in BERKELEY

Town Hall On Drones: Informing Policy in Berkeley will be held Wednesday, May 1, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (in the Multi-Purpose Room of the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Avenue at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley)

The event is co-sponsored by the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission and the Berkeley Police Review Commission.

On December 18, 2012, the Berkeley City Council reviewed a recommendation by the Berkeley Peace & Justice Commission entitled, “Resolution to Proclaim Berkeley A No Drone Zone and Enact an Ordinance to that Effect.”  The Council referred the issue of a drone policy back to the Peace and Justice Commission and also to the Berkeley Police Review Commission and the Berkeley Disaster and Fire Safety Commission.  The Council indicated that it will hold a Council workshop on drone policy after receiving further recommendations from these Commissions.

Image from a recent anti-drone demonstration in Sacramento

In the wake of the April Days of Action Against Drones, which saw anti-drone activism sprout up across the nation, The Town Hall on Drones will provide opportunities for individuals and organizations to address the Commissions and the public on various aspects of drone usage and the Commissions will have the opportunity to consider this information before making their final recommendations to the Council. The Town Hall will focus on (1) Technical Aspects and Limitations of Drones; (2) Public Safety (what might drones be good for?); (3) Civil Liberties Concerns; and (4) Moral and Political Consequences of Drones.

Numerous other cities and 31 states are now considering legislation to regulate the use of drones. Seattle’s City Council had its police department get rid of its drones, Charlottesville, Virginia recently became the first city in the United States to ban drones, and Berkeley must decide what its policy on drones will be. 

Berkeley could also be affected by any drones obtained and used as a result of Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s desire to acquire them for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. Activists have pointed out that there are safety, civil liberties, and privacy concerns and that drone technology is currently ahead of safeguards for the civil liberties of people they would affect.  It is hoped that all perspectives on drones will be aired and shared at the Town Hall on Drones in order to better inform any local policy making on the issue.

Contact: Bob Meola, Chairperson, Peace and Justice Commission Subcommittee on Drones:

510-644-1102 or bobmeola@mindspring.com  

Contact: Veena Dubal, Chairperson, Police Review Commission Subcommittee on Drones:

 dubalprc@gmail.com

Berkeley: No Drones Language Finalized for Consideration By City Council

In a meeting Monday, September 10, the Peace and Justice Commission of Berkeley, CA, approved language for a "no drones" resolution. The resolution will now move to the full Berkeley city council for consideration, with consideration likely scheduled for November.

The approved language is provided below, followed by a list of additional articles relevant to a Berkeley No Drone Zone.


Resolution to Proclaim Berkeley a No Drone Zone and Enact an Ordinance to that Effect

From Commissioner Meola, September 10, 2012

WHEREAS, the Peace and Justice Commission advises the City Council on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley’s role in issues of peace and social justice (Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) Chapter 3.68.070); and

WHEREAS, Berkeley has a history of standing up for peace, justice, civil liberties, and the welfare of people; and

WHEREAS, United States airspace is the busiest in the world, with up to 87,000 flights per day, including commercial airliners and freight haulers, air taxis and private and military aircraft; and

WHEREAS, “Statistics show unmanned aircraft have an accident rate seven times higher than general aviation and 353 times higher than commercial aviation;”¹ and

WHEREAS, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known as Drones, are not now allowed in United States general airspace because of the threat they present to other aircraft and under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 the FAA is directed to create regulations that will enable drones to fly throughout United States airspace by September, 2015; and

WHEREAS, small drones, 25 pounds or under, are now permitted to fly in general airspace below 400 feet for the use of police and first responders, with FAA permission; and

WHEREAS, drones have limitations in “vision” compared to the vision of human pilots, do not have the same capability to avoid other aircraft as aircraft piloted by humans, and there has been at least one instance outside the United States of a drone collision with an aircraft with a human pilot on board and another incident, as well, of a near miss and these instances occurred in airspace much less crowded than that of the United States²; and

WHEREAS, drones have at times gotten out of human control, in at least one instance having to be shot down³, and drones are susceptible to electronic interference and having control seized electronically by unauthorized operators; and

WHEREAS, drones have the capability of carrying a variety of weapons, including 12-guage shot guns, tear gas, rubber bullet guns, bombs and missiles, but drones have significant limitations in identifying specific individuals and groups; and

WHEREAS, Unmanned Aerial vehicles (drones) have the capability to watch individuals, groups and populations on a 24-hour basis, following and recording their movements for days and weeks in an unprecedented way; and

WHEREAS, drones have the capability to continuously monitor cell-phone and text messaging of individuals, groups and populations; and

WHEREAS, drones are being developed that will use computerized facial images to target individuals and, once launched, to operate, autonomously, without further human involvement, to locate and kill those individuals; and

WHEREAS, drones would present an unreasonable and unacceptable threat to public safety in the air and to persons and property on the ground in the City of Berkeley, due to limitations in drone “vision”, capability to avoid other aircraft and adequate control; and

WHEREAS, armed drones and surveillance drones would present an unreasonable and unacceptable threat to the rights of individual privacy, freedom of association and assembly, equal protection and judicial due process in the City of Berkeley;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Berkeley, with this resolution, and by Proclamation, proclaims Berkeley a No Drone Zone, and instructs the City Attorney to perform the necessary legal tasks to transform this declaration of a No Drone Zone into an Ordinance for the City of Berkeley wherein drones are hereby banned from airspace over the City of Berkeley, including drones in transit. Under that Ordinance, flying of a drone within the airspace of the City of Berkeley shall be considered a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine not to exceed $10,000. Each offense that is more than one offense of flying a drone within said airspace will be considered to be an additional misdemeanor, with jail time and fines based on the number of violations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that drones will not be purchased, leased, borrowed, tested or otherwise used by any agency of the City of Berkeley.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that exemptions will be made for hobbyists to continue to fly remote controlled model aircraft in specified areas, away from dwellings and the urban cityscape of people and buildings as long as those devices are not equipped with any kind of camera or audio surveillance equipment.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be sent to Governor Jerry Brown, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, State Senator Loni Hancock, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, the Alameda County Sheriff, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, Representative Barbara Lee, President Barack Obama, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense.

⁴
NOTES

1 Spies in the sky signal new age of surveillance
2 Midair Collision Between a C-130 and a UAV | Defense Tech
A Drone Near-Disaster? An airplane pilot reports a near collision with a "remotely controlled aircraft" over Denver
German Army Luna UAV vs Ariana Afghan Airlines Airbus A300B4 – YouTube
Drones Most Accident-Prone U.S. Air Force Craft: BGOV Barometer – Bloomberg
3 Out-of-control drone shot down by US jet plane before it flew into Tajikistan | World news | guardian.co.uk
4 USAF reports on drone crashes that likely would not have happened had there been a pilot on board. This is just from skimming crash reports, and there likely are more.
Executive Summary: Aircraft Accident Investigation - MQ-1B Predator, T/N 07-3182, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 5 May 2011
not found


ADDITIONAL DRONE ARTICLES RELEVANT TO A BERKELEY NO DRONE ZONE

FAA Documents Raise Questions About Safety of Drones in U.S. Airspace

Help EFF Find Out How Your Local Police Agency is Using Drones

Are Guidelines Issued by Drone Industry an Attempt To Avoid Government Regulation?

NY Claiming ‘No Drone Zone’, Hopefully More States Will Follow

Hatred: What drones sow: The hidden and growing danger of Obama's remote air war in Pakistan and Yemen

Drones spur debt and polio: The price tag for Obama's remote control war keeps rising

Rand Paul takes on the Pentagon: The Kentucky senator wants to curb unmanned flights, but the Air Force tells Salon about its plans to expand them

U.N. rights chief calls for drone probe: Civilian victims are due compensation, says top official; Panetta says strikes will continue

not found

Another right-wing drone skeptic: Jack Goldsmith, a former Bush official, supports an ACLU lawsuit for more information on remote aerial warfare

Losing Yemeni hearts and minds: CIA drone strikes in the Middle Eastern country are undermining our mission there

States fight for drone biz: Six UAV test sites are up for grabs -- and state governments are eager to get their hands on them

The face of collateral damage: Photos of missile debris help trace the path of a CIA drone missile that killed a young girl

Who will drones target? Who in the US will decide? A new procedure puts the White House squarely in control of who will be targeted by drone attacks

Drones’ new weapon: P.R. - The industry's fighting back, determined to remake its image. "Change scares people," an industry rep tells Salon

Conservatives turn on drones: Right-wing writers, from Charles Krauthammer to Matt Drudge, join the left in criticizing domestic drone use

Coming soon: Bigger drones: The FAA has decided to allow larger drones to fly in U.S. airspace

Drone war defensive: The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan has quit, undermining Obama's reassuring tale of remote control war

Fear the zombie drone: How do you safely launch thousands of new aircraft into already crowded skies? The safety concerns of domestic UAVs

Drones invade campus: Universities are buying drones faster than police departments -- and the military is helping foot the bill

Drone victims’ defender speaks: The deaths of innocent Pakistani civilians turned Shahzad Akbar from a U.S. friend to full-time critic

Drones for “urban warfare”: Manufacturers are targeting U.S. police forces for sales, as drones move from the Middle East to Main Street

Petraeus and the signature of U.S. terror: The CIA pressures Obama to step up indiscriminate attacks in Yemen

Air Force ramps up drone war: New documents reveal plans to more than quadruple Reaper missions by 2016

In Iowa, occupiers picket a drone factory: The owner touts benefits of aerial technology as merchants complain about disruption of holiday shopping

Look up in the sky and see a drone

Drone operations over Somalia pose danger to air traffic, U.N. report says

Congress: Domestic drones pose potential threats - The House Homeland Security Subcommittee held a hearing Thursday about the domestic use of drones. Rep. Michael McCaul expressed concern that drones not only could be hijacked and flown against a target, but also pose other safety issues. (July 19)

KnowDrones - provide drone replicas and educational materials to support citizen action to achieve an international ban on weaponized drones and surveillance drones - war drones.