Berkeley police to hold forum on drones, cameras, ALPRs

Berkeley police are holding a community conversation next week on their use of "public safety technology" — and what they hope will be more of it.

In recent months, the Berkeley City Council gave police the green light to begin to explore a drone program.

This week, the department held an internal session on what that might one day look like. (Community members in the neighborhood may have seen drones flying over the Public Safety Building during the meeting.)

The technology session, which seems to be a first, is scheduled for 3 p.m. next Thursday, Jan. 15, at the police station, 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Center Street.

The event will take place in person with online access over Zoom for those who can't make it.

The department said its plan is to hold "a conversation around how technology supports public safety and criminal investigations."

Whether that will be the focus for forum attendees remains to be seen.

Historically, Berkeley meetings have tended to draw more critics of proposed changes than supporters. And that's especially true when it comes to policing.

In its recent announcement, BPD described the upcoming meeting as a discussion about how license plate readers (ALPRs), fixed surveillance cameras, drones "and community video streams work together to provide real-time crime analysis and enhance investigative capabilities," the department wrote.

BPD currently has an active ALPR contract with Flock Safety along with approval from council to launch a new surveillance camera program — but that contract has been held up for a variety of reasons, including concerns about federal data-sharing, particularly in relation to Flock.

Next week, police said, "Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how these technologies function, how they are used responsibly, and how they serve as effective resource multipliers for public safety."

The department said it will share the link to join the meeting online at a later date.