Topline:
LAPD will now use drones to respond to emergency calls as, what the department calls, a way to assess and de-escalate evolving situations. But experts are concerned about whether civil liberty violations could be at stake.
Why it matters: Dubbed as Drone First Responders, or DFRs, the initiative allows deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles across the city in emergency response situations.
The benefits: Authorities with the Chula Vista Police Department, which has been operating a similar program since 2018, say they can respond to a call in 90 seconds on average.
What are the risks: Privacy experts have concerns about surveillance creep and data storage, despite department guidelines outlining limitations.
The backstory: Previously, LAPD drones were limited to high-risk tactical scenarios like barricaded suspects and bomb threats.
Keep reading... for more on how these programs can work and concerns about surveillance.
Ever dialed 911, wondering who (or what) might respond to your call? In L.A., you may see an unmanned drone before you see an officer.
The Los Angeles Police Commission — a civilian oversight body — has given the Los Angeles Police Department the go-ahead to use small unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, for routine emergency calls.
What we know
The pilot program launches this month, according to the L.A. Times, and will span over the base of L.A.’s city lines, which include Topanga, West L.A., Harbor and Central.
According to revised guidelines and procedures, the goal is to use the drones as a de-escalation tool, allowing officers to assess evolving situations. These guidelines expand on the 2019 precedent that restricted the department’s drones to a narrower set of dangerous situations, which included barricaded suspects and/or explosives.
How similar programs have worked
The Chula Vista Police Department has been using drones to respond to emergency calls since 2018. Here’s what its unmanned systems offer, according to Sergeant Anthony Molina, who discussed the topic on AirTalk, LAist 89.3’s daily news program.
- High-definition video with extensive zooming capabilities
- Live streaming to dispatch and officers on the ground via app
- Real-time GPS tracking
- Coverage of about a mile a minute
Molina said the drones can respond to a situation in 90 seconds on average.
Charles Werner, director of Drones Responders, a nonprofit focused on expanding the use of drones in public safety operations, said, “If you start thinking about the limited staffing we have with departments across the country, this is a huge benefit.”
Werner added that there are benefits in other types of missions too, like hazmat situations, structure fires and wildfires.
Surveillance concerns
Privacy and surveillance experts remain skeptical of using drones as first responders.
Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF, a nonprofit civil advocacy group, reported that the LAPD sent requests to Amazon Ring for footage related to Black-led protests against police violence in 2021.
“When you have something like a drone that can have cameras attached to it with AI-enabled capabilities, license plate readers or other types of technologies that are used by law enforcement, we have a concern around the appropriate use should there be any violation of existing policy,” said Beryl Lipton, EFF senior investigative researcher.
The updated LAPD policy prohibits the following uses:
- Unlawful harassment, intimidation, or discrimination
- Targeting of a person based on race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or military status
- Recording of First Amendment assemblies
- Be equipped with weapons or facial recognition software
“Something that is going to be very important to keep an eye on as LAPD tries and adopts the Drone First Responder program is making sure all the reasonable accountability mechanisms that are in place are being followed,” Lipton said.
We reached out to LAPD for this conversation, but they declined to join.
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LAPD pilot program will see drones used as first responders
