For Immediate Release: April 29th, 2014
Contact:  Farah Al Mousawi, coordinator@codepink.org, (415) 948-5979

Nancy Mancias, codepink.nancy@gmail.com, (415) 342-6409


CODEPINK To Launch Campaign to Regulate Drones in Community Airspace

(Berkeley) CODEPINK Women for Peace to launch a new Drone campaign to encourage community members across the nation to bring a resolution to elected officials demanding the regulations of unmanned aerial vehicles, most commonly referred to as drones. While there’s been much discussion about the dangers of drones being used in the United States by law enforcement and other government agencies, only a few cities have passed resolutions to regulate drones or imposed a moratorium until such regulations are in place.


“Rules must be put in place to ensure that drones will not turn us into even more of a ‘surveillance society’ in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded, and scrutinized by the government,” said Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the group CODEPINK, which aims to help pass 100 such resolutions by the end of 2014.


Members of CODEPINK will attend The Berkeley City Council Drone Policy meeting April 29 at 5:30 p.m., at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, to weigh on the use of drones in the city.


All over the country, state governments are taking measures to restrict the ways that law enforcement agencies can use drones, such a requiring a court order to collect information, prohibiting the weaponizing of drones, and insisting that the use of domestic drones be subject to open audits and proper oversight to prevent misuse. At the end of the year 2013, 13 states had enacted new laws and 11 states had adopted 16 resolutions.


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CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. For more information about the Drone Resolution campaign, visit: www.codepink.org/droneresolution