Berkeley Drone Town Hall - ACAD
Neil Satterlund with Alameda County Against Drones speaks about the lack of ability of restrictions in the present to predict 'unforeseeable' uses by law enforcement in the future.
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"If Berkeley can't stop drones, there's little hope elsewhere. So give us some hope." During a May 1st town hall on drones, a former Bay Area resident and current anti-drone activist in Las Vegas encouraged two Berkeley commissions to draft strong resolutions banning drones over Berkeley skies.
Berkeley's 'Peace and Justice Commission' and 'Police Review Commission' each have a subcommittee specifically addressing drones. Each commission (both in full attendance for this meeting) will be drafting a recommendation on drones for City Council vote, and this town hall was called by the two subcommittees to make public the conversation on the matter.
Discussed this night by a panel of guest speakers (before a crowd of about 50 Berkeley residents) were the technical aspects and limitations of drones, whether drones would really improve public safety, civil liberties concerns and the moral and political consequences of drones.
A few guest speakers highlighted the need for policy & regulation of drones. Parker Higgins of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org) highlighted the need for Berkeley to create "thoughtful and substantive rules" for drone use "especially by law enforcement and that's because of the rate of progress of this technology...these rules need to go beyond just the technology that we're looking at today, and address the root issues that these technologies raise."
These root issues were addressed by Linda Lye from the ACLU of Northern California (http://www.aclunc.org):
"Why do they raise civil liberties concerns? Drones are capable of collecting comprehensive information about who we are, where we go, when we go, and with whom we spend our time. This is detailed information that paints an intimate portrait of our lives and who we are. The right to privacy means the right to control ones personal information."
She went on to highlight the focus of this issue by most who spoke at the town hall: Law enforcement. "Drones can be used for warrant-less mass surveillance."
A few of the other guest speakers called for an outright ban on drones in Berkeley. A representative from "Berkeley Cop Watch" (http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org) is against drones altogether for Berkeley because of the Berkeley Police Department's history of stonewalling:
"I've taken a look at the ACLU's report and I think they've really come up with some wonderful guidelines for drone use. They would be wonderful in a climate with effective police accountability. In an absence of a way to control the police, even the best guidelines, restrictions, suggestions are not really going to have an impact."
"Alameda County Against Drones" is also for an outright ban, and Neil Satterlund goes into why restrictions might not be enough (nomby.wordpress.com):
"I do not know what sorts of restrictions on drone use would be enough because I do not know what currently unforeseeable mission drone use is going to creep into."
Aside from a drone lobbyist citing educational & recreational uses, and a Berkeley local wanting to avoid an outright ban in the case of search & rescue opportunities, the theme of an outright ban on drones during public comment was overwhelming.
Just as the evening was wrapping up a 'Peace and Justice Commission' member immediately began a discussion with her colleagues...in favor of an outright ban.
They hope to get whatever they decide as their proposal to City Council for a vote as soon as possible.