CopBlock

On February 8th, 2013 at 3:50 pm a drone was sighted hovering above a neighborhood in West Oakland. There didn’t seem to be a focus, it just maintained it’s position above properties near a highway. It is not known at this point what agency or individual was operating the craft. But regardless of who was in control of the drone, it is the type of thing we can expect to see in the future of we don’t act now.

Berkeley Copwatch won an award this week for halting the Berkley Police Department’s attempt to purchase a Bearcat (an armored personnel vehicle) without public input. Copwatch was only able to defeat Berkeley Police’s attempt by mobilizing with others. So it is upon all of us to have these discussions and continue to collectively organize against such police strategies.

Alameda Sheriff’s recently released their intended policies around the use of drones and it’s clear that search and rescue missions are not their intended purpose.