Sheriff ’s oversight members call for end to drone flights

Majority of civilian commissioners cite concerns over safety and surveillance.

Citing concerns over surveillance, safety and potential trauma to the public, a majority of Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight commissioners Thursday expressed that they want Sheriff Jim McDonnell’s agency to stop flying a drone used in law enforcement operations.

The aircraft was unveiled by the Sheriff ’s Department in January and has been deployed four times, mostly in search-and-rescue missions. The department has said the 20-inch-long unmanned aircraft system, which cost $10,000, would strictly be used in high-risk tactical operations — such as fires, bomb detection and hostage situations — and not for surveillance.

But activists have warned of possible “mission creep,” saying they’re worried the drone could be used for random spying on residents and could one day be armed or deployed as a weapon itself.

In 2012, the department used a plane to secretly shoot video footage of the streets of Compton in order to catch criminals. The operation was widely criticized once it was discovered, particularly because community members said they were not informed or consulted about the project.

The Los Angeles Police Department acquired two drones in 2014 but never launched them after protests about potential surveillance uses.

Four of the eight members present at the commission’s monthly public meeting Thursday voted against authorizing a set of strict recommendations that would have spelled out how the Sheriff’s Department should manage its drone program.

One of the recommendations was for McDonnell to “explicitly and unequivocally state” he would not allow the drone to be armed, and other suggestions called for precise reporting on the use of the device.

The four members voting against the recommendations — which had been prepared by an ad-hoc group of commissioners who spent several weeks studying the drone matter — said at the meeting and afterward they oppose the department’s use of drones altogether.

A fifth commissioner — Priscilla Ocen, a Loyola Law School professor who served on the drone ad-hoc committee — was not at the meeting but wrote a report explaining her support for grounding the drone.

Several people voiced concerns that the aircraft could someday be armed, as in North Dakota, where police drones with less-than-lethal weapons were legalized. Some also worried that children could be especially frightened of drones.

“In communities where the police helicopter is frequently flown, children have expressed the trauma they’ve experienced, and now we’re just going to add to it,” said Nadia Khan of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.

Yet some at the meeting argued that as long as the drone was used responsibly, the device could yield significant public safety benefits.

The technology “will save lives,” said Robert Bonner, a former federal judge who serves as the commission’s chairman. He criticized his colleagues’ decision to reject the recommendations as irresponsible, saying it leaves