Berkeley Drone Town Hall – A retrospective

Fresh back from the hallowed halls of the North Berkeley Senior Center Chad Partridge and I have come away with an invaluable learning experience. No inference or innuendo was spared that could have been mistaken for anything short of drones being responsible for many of the world’s ills save polio, and possibly the stock market crash of 1929. Not to say that the stretch would not have been made if the meeting were left to proceed into the night under no constraints.

This is scarcely an exaggeration of what was espoused by those in attendance making parallels and loose associations to all of the negativity associated with the following list of social maladies; the Vietnam war, racial profiling, unemployment, lack of opportunity, police transparency, government accountability, guns, nukes, everything wrong with Afghanistan, the civil rights movement and the black panthers.

We endured a recount of 60 plus years of activism that was now being brought to bear on this fledgling industry. Flat out ban was the mood in the room. Repetitions of the “No Drone Zone” for Berkeley are what we desire. I could imagine the instances of history where technology and discovery faced the trials of the detractors claiming that we did not need or want enlightenment. It was easy to imagine the stark frustration with the realization that your contemporaries find comfort in continuing to suffer from the ignorance and difficulties of their forefathers. With grimaced faces and vociferous opposition to change, proclaiming that there is nothing wrong with a flat earth and that a round earth will do nothing, but lead to some of the following social disorders; the Vietnam war, racial profiling, unemployment, lack of opportunity, police transparency, government accountability, guns, nukes, everything wrong with Afghanistan, the civil rights movement and the demise of the black panthers.

The topper on this surreal episode, it was accompanied by a faint whiff of weed smoke wafting through an open window. (You know you are getting the straight scoop here because you cannot even make stuff like this up.) Anyway, more about our exposure to the concerns sources of consternation and even future trepidations surrounding the technology off handily being maligned as the Drones.

The common thread shared by the majority of the detractors…

Civil liberty concerns revolve around a chill on First Amendment protected speech. The fear is that police will use drones to monitor protesters. Also, alarming is the notion that drones are being armed with tear gas and rubber bullets. I do not know of this personally, but will add that anyone espousing that notion needs to make an appointment with a mental health professional because it is straight up crazy talk. It is an example of some of the forward thinking that is kicking this industry in the shins.

Safety is also one of the cited concerns. They like to trot out the 10-7 safety record of GA. Pahleese those numbers are no pun intended, pulled right out of the sky. The GAATA survey is a joke, and anyone who has a problem with the statement needs to launch a third party independent review of the safety numbers for the past 5 years. It should be a mandatory requirement for FAA budget accountability.

The other common thread and most disappointing are that all of the surveillance capabilities are exclusive to drones at the police department price point. They can carry HD cameras, infrared that can see through obstacles and indoors through walls, intercept cell phone communications, do facial recognition on the fly, have radar, LIDAR etc.

Chad surmised it well during the public comment session (I’m paraphrasing as he caught me off guard) he empathized with their privacy concerns, but was of the opinion these concerns have more to do with the erosion of the public’s collective privacy through multiple channels of surveillance, and are larger than just the Drones.

I’m going to call it another win as we were able to dispel some misconceptions, learn more about the concerns and build a better understanding between all sides through an open dialog.

Ed’s note (This clip was sent my way very quiet so turn it up!)