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Oakland - The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California will charge the Alameda County Sheriff's Office with secretly proceeding with plans to unleash a surveillance drone on Alameda County during a press conference TOMORROW, Dec. 4., at 10 a.m. outside the Alameda County administration building.
During the press conference, the ACLU will release new documents showing that sheriff's officials plan to use the drone for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes, despite claims to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that the drone would be used for "search and rescue"-type activities.
The documents, obtained through the California Public Records Act, show that sheriff's officials have not been candid with the public or the Board of Supervisors about its plans for acquiring and using a drone. Although sheriff's officials claimed in October only to be in the very preliminary stages of considering a drone, the documents reveal that the sheriff's office has already applied for, and the state has already granted, the county nearly $40,000 for the purchase of a drone and that the county has already solicited and received bids from three vendors seeking to sell the county a drone.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) also has obtained documents from July through a Public Records Act request that similarly confirm the Sheriff's Office intends to use the drone for surveillance purposes, including "intelligence gathering," "suspicious persons," and "large crowd control disturbances." EFF will also participate in the press conference.
The County Charter prohibits the Sheriff from expending any funds without Board of Supervisors approval. But the sheriff's office is now seeking to circumvent meaningful public debate on drones by burying a request for approval to acquire the drone on a larger Board of Supervisors agenda with 66 items, even though the Board decided in November to refer consideration of the drone matter to the Public Protection Committee. The ACLU today sent a letter to the board expressing concern that the sheriff's attempt to push through summary approval of his request would effectively usurp the board's authority to decide this important issue in a considered and transparent manner.
WHAT:
ACLU press conference to call on the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and Board of Supervisors to commit to a thorough and transparent process in discussing the possibility of acquiring a drone for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes.
WHERE:
Alameda County Administration Building 1221 Oak Street Oakland, Calif.
WHO:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California will be joined by representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other concerned members of the community, including members of a new local coalition Alameda County Against Drones.
WHEN:
10 a.m. PST
CONTACT: Will Matthews, ACLU of Northern California, (415) 293-6309; wmatthews@aclunc.org
