Update: 06/14/2023 

The Care2 Team has created another petition against the heavy usage of LAPD helicopter pilots. We are defaulting to that petition and it can be found below. We are mobilizing on the ground to create healthy and SAFE communities in Los Angeles county that have direct support. Care2 team is not associated with our team but we are supporting the movement as they have reached 15,000+ signatures already; https://www.thepetitionsite.com/565/843/936/lapd-helicopters-emit-far-more-emissions-than-any-celebrity-jet/

This morning at 2:30 AM I was awakened as I was the night prior to the sound of an LAPD helicopter pilot flying low over my home. Luckily this morning I didn't have to be up for work at 5 AM like I usually am. This constant disruption of LAPD helicopters flying has caused ringing in my ears & disruption in the overall health of local communities in LA. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has been using helicopters for decades, causing excessive noise, fuel, & light pollution in Los Angeles communities. 

The Los Angeles community was recently surveyed & many stated that they wanted to see new public safety measures implemented. Helicopters are a form of surveillance and have a negative impact on communities. Noise, fuel, & light pollution have been linked to violent crime, dementia, hearing loss, heart disease, and cancer. LAPD helicopter pilots are flying low over civilian homes which can be traumatic to people who have experienced violence at the hands of police or live in communities where critical community investments are necessary. The LAPD claims that they use helicopters to respond quickly to crimes in progress but studies show that this is not true - there is no evidence that helicopter use reduces crime or saves lives.

“For me, police helicopters are a part of a much larger conversation about policing in Black and brown communities. The constant surveillance (intended or not) further criminalizes communities of color. It’s state-funded racial profiling. It’s also intrusive. It disregards the targeted community’s right to privacy. These tactics treat communities of color as possible suspects instead of citizens. And it does little to foster a sense of trust between the community and the police. I question the end game, too. If the goal of these tactics is to prevent and deter crime, has the usage of police helicopters been successful in doing that? I doubt it." From Knock-LA interview https://knock-la.com/lapd-helicopter-surveillance

"it costs $1,200 per hour to fly an LAPD helicopter-- without accounting for the pilot's salary. On average, an LAPD helicopter burns the equivalent of two car tanks of gas per hour" -From a grassroots effort to #defundLAPD helicopters."

"Can someone explain to me why two LAPD helicopters just flew from DTLA to Camarillo and back without stopping?" From https://twitter.com/GarrettML

As I type this, I can hear and track an LAPD helicopter over my home. Since 2:30 AM this morning random aircraft, but mostly LAPD, has been flying non-stop. The community of Los Angeles county is calling for the disbanding of the heavy usage of LAPD & other "law enforcement" aircraft across civilian communities & that new measures of public safety are implemented directly into communities that need it. But how, how should communities implement new structures & systems is the question often asked & it starts with having direct conversations with local neighborhoods & communities that want to implement & track the success rate of new public safety systems compared to old proven unsuccessful models. 

"The skies over Los Angeles are the densest net of helicopter surveillance in the world. The LAPD’s aerial division is a constant presence over the city, particularly its poorest neighborhoods. The glaring searchlights and cutting noises keep residents up at night, communicating an air of supremacy and control”- From https://massivesci.com/articles/helicopter

I invite everyone that is considering signing this petition to learn more about the Civil Grand Jury of Los Angeles. It is my belief that we need to not only pay Civil Grand Jurors more money (no, they are not paid enough money) but we need them aligned respectively with all districts where there is an active police force. The civilian peers should be working along with progressive grassroots teams to establish a new public safety system that works, and they should begin the dismantling of the violent militarized police that are occupying our communities. The Civil Grand Jury should be under consideration as a random citizens assembly where residents directly from impacted communities are randomly selected by lot and must follow a specific constitutional doctrine that is meant to protect the collective well-being of all LA residents but also allows self-determination for residents of impacted communities. The constant flying of LAPD helicopters, other helicopter agencies, and small plane owners across Los Angeles is a threat to public health not a measure of any successful implemented public safety policy. Public safety is access to safe, clean, and affordable housing. Public safety is access to affordable healthcare including mental, behavioral, and rehabilitation health support. Public safety is affordable & quality education for the collective well-being of humanity. Public safety is investments in youth crime & gang prevention programs and other crime diversion programs. The for-profit system as it exists requires a victim to work!

Civil Grand Jury of LA County 

“America, the first Grand Jury was established in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. The Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury (Jury) has three areas of responsibility:

1) to provide civilian oversight of the governmental agencies within Los Angeles County
(County),
2) to inspect jails and juvenile detention centers within the County, and
3) to investigate complaints made by individuals in the County. The Jury does not mandate;
it makes recommendations.
This report is the result of our investigations from July 1,
2019 to June 30, 2020." http://grandjury.co.la.ca.us/pdf

The grand jury must be permitted to not only make recommendations but to also implement new policies & structural system changes that will directly impact local community visions for public safety. The grand jury will actively work within communities to disband LAPD & LASD gangs from local neighborhoods.

"half of households who have to live with an LAPD officer want to defund the police, and 52.4% want to DISMANTLE THE POLICE" From https://twitter.com/stoplapdspying

The total budget for law enforcement in LA county is 8 BILLION+ a year, taking a large majority of public spending money as communities go underfunded. Poverty in LA has increased by over 50% within the last 10 years & as rent has increased by over 65% in that time period. Los Angeles residents recently heard audio from a now former council president, Nury Martinez, who was heard making anti-Black racist comments, comments about undermining renter districts, & other biases that undermine the well-being of the collective of districts & cities that she was meant to represent. This same now former council president was able to implement harmful policies & was able to increase LAPD's budget in communities that requested investments in new public safety measures other than policing which has only created further trauma.  Los Angeles residents are ready to begin the dismantling of old outdated & failed public safety systems like the inappropriate & heavy usage of LAPD & law enforcement aircraft as well as heavy civilian aircraft usage. We need to disband all LAPD & LASD gangs that are freely roaming Los Angeles county neighborhoods causing further trauma & terror!

I'll end with this; 

"Abolition is not about anarchy or absence of accountability. As Ruth Gilmore said, it's about the presence of life-affirming institutions

We decrim victimless "crimes" 

And hold perpetrators of true crimes truly accountable to the people and communities they've harmed" -From https://twitter.com/TENDEMANDS

THE TEN DEMANDS

1. Defund the Police and Reallocate Resources to Impacted Communities.

2. Demilitarize the Police, disband the heavy usage of LAPD, other law enforcement & civilian aircraft. Implement a civilian air safety team. 

3. Eliminate Discriminatory Policing, Prosecution and Sentencing.

4. Institute Complete Law Enforcement Transparency and Accountability.

5. Independently Investigate All Police Crimes and Abuses of Power.

6. Install Community Representation, Oversight and Safety Measures.

7. End Strategic Counter-Protest Violence.

8. Self-determination for impacted communities & provide reparations. 

9. End the War on Drugs.

10. End Carceral Punishment

"LAPD helicopter pilot flashing lights into the homes of LA residents at 3AM"-From https://twitter.com/HowTheWestWS

"I gather information from the transponders of police aircraft and post it on the internet." From https://twitter.com/quis__custodiet 

"Beni Benitez was 13, and lying in bed trying to fall asleep, when a bright flash made him open his eyes. His siblings were asleep on the bottom bunk. But a glaring light shone into the room, and the windows started shaking. His anxiety spiked as he heard the vibrating chop of a police helicopter." From https://capitalandmain.com/are-police-helicopters-worth-the-cost

Signed, 

Residents of Los Angeles County; we must immediately begin the implementation of community-based public safety systems that benefit the collective of humanity!

https://htwws.org/disband-the-heavy-usage-of-lapd-helicopters

"Intelligence is ongoing, individual adaptability. Adaptations that an intelligent species may make in a single generation, other species make over many generations of selective breeding and selective dying.” -#OctaviaButler #Earthseed

CA constitutional convention; http://representcal.org/

***We are not accepting donations at this time for this campaign. Consider supporting grassroots social justice teams like https://stoplapdspying.org/ (no direct relation with HTWWS/petitioner).