The Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD) announced on May 30 it had received two aerial drones from the Seattle Police Department, but no decision has been made as to whether the aircraft will be put to use by the LAPD.
The Draganflyer X6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were received on May 29, according to the LAPD.
They were purchased by the Seattle Police Dept. using federal grants and there was no cost to the City of Los Angeles, the LAPD reported.
LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Seattle police had them for four or five years and did not use them. The LAPD became aware they were available in the last few weeks and they were transferred to the department’s possession, he said.
The drones currently are in the custody of an undisclosed federal law enforcement agency “pending review by the LAPD and the Board of Police Commissioners, as well as the public,” according to an LAPD statement.
“The review would only consider narrow and prescribed uses to prevent imminent bodily harm, for example, a hostage situation or barricaded armed suspect,” the statement said.
Police Chief Charlie Beck and other department officials are aware of public concerns about potential breaches of privacy and civil rights violations and public hearings will be part of the process of deciding if the devices will be put to use by the LAPD, according to Smith, who eschewed the term drones in favor of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.
In any case, a certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration must be obtained by the department before the aircraft can be used by the LAPD and the application process for that has only just begun, the commander said.
“We saw this as an opportunity to possibly incorporate them in very narrow, high-risk kinds of things our SWAT guys do from time to time,” Smith said.
