The Oakland County Board of Commissioners voted 13-4 to approve a pilot program on Wednesday night that will allow drones to be used to help the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office respond to 911 calls; however, many residents showed up to the commissioners’ meeting to voice their concerns.
“With this vote, we invite the infrastructure of mass surveillance. The very idea is an appalling invasion of our privacy and our civil liberties, and it is the exact opposite of public safety,” said one resident during Wednesday’s meeting.
It was a packed house inside the commissioner’s meeting as residents voiced their frustrations over the vote allowing the sheriff’s office to use drones from the company Flock Safety. The residents were doubly upset that not only did the board vote for this motion, but they also moved public comment after the vote.
“We fear that as the number of cameras grows, it creates an all-inclusive surveillance system where people are constantly watched, violating the expectation of privacy in public,” said Raymond Sultz from Waterford.
The pilot program will be free for nine months, but if extended, the program would cost $2.5 million over two years. Flock Safety has faced strong criticism, with many worried about the public’s privacy and security moving forward.
“We don’t want to be watched. Flock is such a known bad actor that the Ferndale police voluntarily did not renew their contract,” said Simon from Ferndale.
“Oakland County commissioners who voted for this are either unbelievably trusting and naive to believe flock’s promises, or you’re simply jumping on board the freight train that’s hurdling towards the breakdown of democracy,” said an Oakland County resident.
Earlier in the day, Sheriff Michael Bouchard spoke to CBS Detroit, saying the use of drones in the past has helped the sheriff’s office find kids who were lost, Alzheimer’s patients and has even captured a murder suspect.
“We understand the privacy concerns people talk about, but we’ve already addressed all those. You can go to our webpage right now and look at every DFR (drones as first responders) flight we’ve flown, where it went, how it came back, what the call was for,” said Bouchard.
There were other residents in the meeting on Wednesday who have organized a petition on Change.org against these drones in Oakland County that has already received over 3,000 signatures.
More from CBS News