This new drone — a Skydio X10 Patrol-Led DFR Kit — will replace a drone currently used by the Lynchburg Police Department.
Vice Mayor and Ward III Councilman Curt Diemer was the lone vote against the grant at council’s Feb. 24 meeting. Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi was not in attendance.
Diemer expressed concerns about what he views as the Lynchburg Police Department's growing surveillance powers.
On its website, Skydio, the drone company, describes the capabilities its drone offers to police departments. “From building interiors to city streets, Skydio DFR delivers continuous live video to officers and command. Everyone sees the same real-time view — so decisions are safer and more coordinated,” the company says.
In explaining his vote against the grant for a new drone, Diemer said he believes “liberty is slowly being eroded one small bite at a time.”
Whether it's police drones, the Flock Automated License Plate Recognition cameras used by police to identify vehicles, or residents giving police access to the cameras at their homes to potentially monitor the activities of neighbors, Diemer said the city needs “strict guardrails.”
Diemer included the city’s youth curfew among the government measures that need to have limits placed on them.
The vice mayor also criticized the LPD's recent decision to encrypt radio communications. Diemer said, “All of a sudden, we can’t hear that anymore.
“We talk about community policing, but the community can’t hear what you’re up to,” he said.
By highlighting these police surveillance and enforcement programs, the vice mayor urged the city to take a serious look at what he called “shrinking liberty.”
Diemer said he is noticing Lynchburg “slowly turning the heat up on a frying pan to the point that we don’t notice every little incremental step.”
“Eventually, if we keep turning the heat up like this and we wake up one day and find our liberties are gone, I would be very sad,” he said.
FOREIGN-MANUFACTURED DRONES
At the meeting, Lynchburg Police Chief Ken Edwards explained the state established the Unmanned Aircraft Trade and Replace Grant Program to help localities replace foreign-manufactured drones with models manufactured in the U.S. The program aligns with current state and federal guidance related to equipment security and responsible technology use, the police chief said.
The drones being replaced through the state program are manufactured by countries designated as foreign adversaries under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024.
The countries listed in the NDAA as foreign adversaries are the People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, the Russian Federation and Venezuela.
The new Skydio DFR, or Drone as First Responder, will replace a DJI Matrice drone used by the LPD. The DJI Matrice is manufactured by DJI, a Chinese technology company. Skydio is headquartered in San Mateo, California.
At the same meeting, council unanimously voted to accept a $9,000 grant from the Firehouse Subs Foundation to purchase two electric bikes for the city’s police department.
The new e-bikes will allow officers to patrol crowded events, including concerts at the new Lynchburg amphitheater when it opens this spring, and off-road trails to ensure the safety of residents, according to the LPD.
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