Export to
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 1:43pm.
People-Tracking Drones and the Portland Police Bureau
This is an online event. A link to join the meeting will be provided upon registration, or you can email [email protected] for the link.
Website
Description
City governments and police everywhere use drones -- to help fight fires, monitor bridge equipment, or respond to critical incidents. But drones have their dark sides, and their potential for invasive over-surveillance and harmful privacy impacts is profound.
Portland City Council voted unanimously in September to expand Portland Police Bureau’s drone program. Join Portland Investigative Journalist and Researcher Kate Kaye to learn about Portland Police Bureau’s drones, what these flying devices can do, how police have actually used them, and what city policy addressing drones and other surveillance tech does – and does not do. Kate will also share how others can help conduct similar research, and save lots of time for your questions.
Did you know:
Portland Police Bureau drone use has increased drastically - rising from between six and 18 times each month from June 2023 through October 2024 to more than 40 times in November 2024.
Some of Portland Police Bureau’s drones include cameras that can zoom-in on people and vehicles and track them from a far-off distance.
In many cases, PPB’s drones have been flown in neighborhoods where more people of color live and where poverty rates are higher than in other parts of the city and in Portland as a whole.
Portland Police have flown drones inside a family’s apartment and to monitor or search for people including juveniles.
PPB’s gun violence unit has patrolled neighborhoods in unmarked vehicles equipped with drones ready to deploy.
Please RSVP via Meetup or by sending an email to [email protected].
Speaker bio:
Kate Kaye is a journalist and researcher living in north Portland. She has reported on tech data use and its impacts for more than twenty years. The project and investigation described here was conducted entirely in her personal time. Kate’s reporting has been seen and heard in MIT Technology Review, NPR, Protocol, Bloomberg CityLab, OneZero, WSJ, Fast Company, and other media outlets. Kate is the founder of RedTailMedia.org, home to some of her work investigating algorithmic and surveillance tech use and policy in Portland including Banned in PDX, a podcast series about Portland’s facial recognition ban, and an investigation of the city’s collapsed partnership with Replica, a Google-affiliated location and mobility tracking company. Kate is the author of Campaign ’08: A Turning Point for Digital Media, a 2009 book on voter data use and digital politics.
By attending this TA3M meeting, you agree to follow our Code of Conduct: https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/
{short} Code of Conduct Portland's Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays is dedicated to providing an informative and positive experience for everyone who participates in or supports our community, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, caste, or creed.
Our events are intended to educate and share information related to technology and activism, and anyone who is there for this purpose is welcome. Because we value the safety and security of our members and strive to have an inclusive community, we do not tolerate harassment of members or event participants in any form.
Audio and video recording are not permitted at meetings without prior approval.
Our Code of Conduct (https://www.meetup.com/Portlands-Techno-Activism-3rd-Mondays/pages/22681732/Code_of_Conduct/) applies to all events run by Portland's TA3M. Please report any incidents to the event organizer.