HOW BIG OIL PLANS TO THWART CLIMATE PROTESTS WITH CONCORD POLICE INVESTITURE
Tomorrow, the Concord City Council will be voting on whether to allow the Concord police department to employ an Unmanned Aerial Surveillance (UAS) program.
In other words, Concord police may soon have control of a military-grade drone surveillance system, whose sole purpose is to surveil the city and its inhabitants. The fire departments already use drones for emergency purposes.
Climate Reality Bay Area emphatically recommends the council vote “no” on this measure. Apart from privacy and civil freedom concerns we harbor, Big Oil interests have stepped up to invest in this program.
This investiture has come about as protests over climate change and environmental degradation increase. And while the oil industry uses terms like “critical infrastructure protection” to defend their investitures, their involvement follows a pattern of certain quid-pro-quos towards these institutions.
Big Oil’s investment heavily reinforces a department’s mission to prioritize counter-protest tactics, partnerships between Big Oil entities, and lobbying efforts for laws against climate protesters.
Buying equipment for local police agencies like Concord has been a part of Big Oil’s strategy to counter climate activism. We have seen this occur in U.S. cities like Detroit.
In Detroit, Marathon Petroleum placed a Marathon Security Coordinator on that city's Public Safety Foundation Board of Directors. This move was designed to influence police policy in the city towards actions which benefitted Big Oil’s interests.
Now locally, Marathon is trying to directly influence police policy in Concord.
The Ohio-based oil company has refinery operations in Contra Costa County (Martinez and Pacheco), and is lobbying for this police drone program in Concord. Marathon Petroleum has offered to pay $30K to the Concord Police Department to purchase drones, and is pressuring Concord City Council members for approval. Oil/petroleum funding of these drones could influence their use at future protests in the fight for climate justice for Concord residents.
If for any reason the Concord City Council approves of drone use for the police, there must be public oversight of the program. To date, public requests for independent oversight have been refused by the Concord police. The police chief has stated to the public and to city council that he will not support an oversight board. The police want the drones, but don't want a system in place to audit the use of the devices.
Climate Reality Bay Area urges all readers in Concord to contact their city council members to vote no on this program. Here is their contact information:
Mayor Tim McGallian (D5): tim.mcgallian@cityofconcord.org
Vice Mayor Dominic Aliano (D3): dominic.aliano@cityofconcord.org
Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister (D1): laura.hoffmeister@cityofconcord.org
Councilmember Carlyn Obringer (D2): carlyn.obringer@cityofconcord.org
Councilmember Edi Birsan (D4): edi.birsan@cityofconcord.org
If you are unsure of your district’s council member, you can find out here (https://cityofconcord.org/558/District-Elections).
MORE REASONS TO VOTE NO:
Drones allow for sophisticated and persistent surveillance wherever they are launched.
Discussions by the police departments have included the possibility of attaching lethal and non-lethal weapons to the drones.
Automatic tracking of individuals and vehicles can also be included on the drones
IMPACT ON CONCORD CITIZENS…AND FUTURE COMMUNITIES
Invasion of privacy
Use in public places will put fear into people engaging in protests – a First Amendment right.
Police say they will use for emergencies, but have already shown they will use during peaceful protests as well (George Floyd protest last year in Concord).
The law enforcement technology that can be attached to a drone is disconcerting, and capable of highly advanced and near-constant surveillance.
Surveillance technologies often criminalize entire neighborhoods.
A drone system scan easily entrench some of our society’s worst racial disparities.