Police chiefs group offers drone-use policy

h/t Wirecutter

Model law enforcement drone guidelines: No weapons, limit deployment, keep them in operator's sight

SAN DIEGO — Police agencies across the nation are increasingly using drones to improve public safety, but need clear operations policies and limits to win public trust, experts said at a law enforcement conference in San Diego.

To that end, a model policy on use of drones – or “small unmanned aircraft systems” – was rolled out Wednesday by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The policy, which could be adopted or revised by any law agency, sets out specific procedures for deploying a drone, lists restrictions on its use, details how data would be retained or deleted and how operators should be trained.

“Do not start a (drone) program without a policy ... Engage the public,” advised Alan Frazier, a Grand Forks (N.Dak.) County part-time sheriff’s deputy and member of the association’s aviation committee.

He spoke to an audience of about 30 law enforcement officials from around the country and other countries attending the three-day conference focusing on technology from body cameras to digital evidence and social media.

Read the rest @ http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/20/drones-unmanned-aircraft-iacp-law-enforcement/

Chicago police are running a horrifying CIA-style black site out of a warehouse

A remarkable report from Spencer Ackerman at The Guardian has revealed in detail the existence of an interrogation facility used by Chicago police to detain and hold people in secret. The report describes how police have used a "nondescript warehouse" to keep detainees out of booking databases, beat prisoners, shackle them for "prolonged periods," and keep them from legal counsel for up to 24 hours — including even children as young as 15.
If that sounds familiar, it's because the US has used similar facilities around the world since 9/11 in its prosecution of the "war on terror." CIA "black sites" around the world have been used to secretly detain, interrogate, and torture alleged enemies of state. Use of these sites for "extraordinary rendition" is one of the darkest aspects of the US war on terror, and has been the target of criticism from a broad spectrum of observers.
America has entered a period of constitutional horror
Unlike the CIA's black sites, The Guardian reports that the Chicago facility targets people who aren't suspected of terror-related activities; the site is reportedly shared by anti-gang and anti-drug police units.
In one instance, The Guardian reports, 12 people who were protesting a Nato summit in 2012 were taken to the warehouse. One man, Jacob Church, says he was cuffed to a bench for around 17 hours and interrogated without receiving Miranda rights. "Essentially, I wasn't allowed to make contact with anybody," Church told The Guardian. "I had essentially figured, 'all right, well, they disappeared us and so we're probably never going to see the light of day again.'" An attorney who eventually gained access to the facility reportedly had to talk to Church through a "floor-to-ceiling chain-link metal cage." But most attorneys, The Guardian notes, have been completely turned away from the site.
One detainee, John Hubbard, died in the facility, The Guardian reports. At the time, The Chicago Tribune unceremoniously reported the event under the headline "man in custody found unresponsive, dies."
"That scares the hell out of me."
The Guardian's report lands in the wake of a national conversation that began last year about police militarization in the US. Last August, the world witnessed a shocking display of force against residents of Ferguson, Missouri, who assembled to protest the killing of an unarmed teenager. Police in military battle dress rolled armored vehicles with sonic weapons down suburban streets, pointed sniper rifles at peaceful protesters, assaulted and harassed journalists, and unilaterally heightened tensions for dubious reasons. Police militarization and brutality have, of course, been an issue before Ferguson — just ask the participants of Occupy Wall Street.
As The Guardian's report demonstrates, it's not just weapons from the war on terror that are flowing to police departments across the country: it's tactics and attitudes, too. "I've never known of any kind of organized, secret place where they go and just hold somebody before booking for hours and hours and hours," retired DC homicide detective James Trainum told The Guardian. "That scares the hell out of me that that even exists or might exist."

BREAKING: New NYPD Policy To Patrol Protests With Machine Guns

(ANTIMEDIA) NEW YORK, NY- NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced Thursday that 350 heavily armed NYPD officers, called the “Strategic Response Group,” will soon be patrolling protests and the city at large.
He said the new strain of hyper-armed police will be

“…equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not. They’ll be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns — unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances.”

Bratton announced  their purpose is specifically

“…designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris.”

Lumping protesters in with terrorists, he said the permanent force will deal with “disorder control and counterterrorism protection capabilities.” It will allegedly assist on crime scenes and help with “crowd control and other large-scale events.”
It is not unusual for authorities to ramp up “security” efforts following attacks (such as the ax attack against officers in October), but the idea of machine-gun clad officers is disturbing, especially considering past NYPD abuses of protesters and other residents.
The federal government, which has attempted to feign concern with police brutality, is partially funding the militarized venture. The Department of Homeland Security is supplying resources, as is the city of New York. The Pentagon has previously provided machine guns, ammuniton, and other military gear to New York police and other local cops around the country.
The program is set to begin with two precincts in Queens and two in Manhattan, though Bratton did not specify when. During the announcement at a Police Foundation breakfast at the Mandarin Hotel, Bratton also said his plan was backed by both Mayor Bill de Blasio (who came under fire from cops last year) and the city council.
He said the effort is intended to improve police relations with communities since “regular” police will no longer be called from their local precincts to deal with protests and alleged security threats:

“For years we’ve been asking our officers to engage in the community, but we’ve never given them time to do it, or the training.”

Such “crises” will now be handled by the machine gunning cops (machine guns are banned for private citizens). Bratton has also previously asked the city for more tasers to “improve relations” by reducing fatal shootings.
In his Thursday announcement, Bratton additionally called on the MTA to install cameras on all subways-for safety, of course.
Unsurprisingly, there is outrage against the proposed plan. Priscilla Gonzalez, Organizing Director of Communities United for Police Reform, said Bratton’s

“…demands for less oversight of the NYPD and a more militarized police force that would use counter-terrorism tactics against protesters are deeply misguided and frankly offensive. We need an NYPD that is more accountable to New Yorkers and that stops criminalizing our communities, especially when people are taking to the streets to voice legitimate concerns about discriminatory and abusive policing. Despite growing evidence that discriminatory broken windows is a failed and harmful policing strategy, Commissioner Bratton stubbornly continues to defend and expand it.”

The move comes as crime has dropped in New York and the police ticket-writing boycott in protest of Mayor de Blasio led to no increase in conflict.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/breaking-new-nypd-policy-patrol-protests-machine-guns/201701/