The Grand Rapids Police Department is proposing to purchase drones for purposes of surveillance and “crime detection.” The public has a short window of time to fight this purchase before they are included in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, finalized in June.

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Buying drones and training personnel to use them will send more dollars to the GRPD budget, which does not support housing, education, or healthcare for residents, all of which are proven to create safer communities. Surveillance of GR residents will cause the scrutiny of everyday public actions, such as playing, running, or even "walking while Black," that leads to criminalization of those actions.

Though the GRPD is presenting drones as limited in use, the evidence shows that police departments often widen the scope of their use of surveillance tech once they have it in hand. Drones are widely used at protests, and are often not used for the public safety disasters that were used to justify their purchase, as in the case of the NYPD.

Write your email now to tell the City Commission, the GRPD, and the Public Safety Commission: No Police Drones in Grand Rapids. #NoDroneZoneGR