James Rojas, Jeff Whittle – KABC News
Papers went flying at the LAPD Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday as members of Black Lives Matter blasted the department’s cadet and drone program.
Akili, director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute and member of BLM, threw his notepad at commissioners after voting to accept a grant from the L.A. County Probation Department. It’s designated to go toward the cadet program that has been marred with scandal.
“Change is made through struggle, change is made through confrontation,” said Akili. “If my shoe had been in my hand I would have thrown my shoe.”
The commission meeting was stopped temporarily after the notepad was thrown and activists refused to remain quiet.
The LACPD selected the LAPD to participate for the 13th year in the 2017-18 Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act program.
Over 90-percent of nearly $394,000 dollars will go towards overtime pay for officers overseeing the cadet program which drew anger from BLM members.
“We have to put it into context of what is actually going on with the police officers that are running this program that they actually have and they continue this culture of sexual violence, domestic violence, child abuse,” said one public commenter.
After a short period, members of the public were allowed back in to resume the meeting however Akili was not.
The topic then moved to the LAPD’s drone pilot program.
The department said it will only use drones in limited SWAT situations but Hamid Kahn with Stop LAPD Spying Coalition told reporters he is worried they will be used to spy on minority neighborhoods or even be weaponized.
“We’ve seen what happened with SWAT. So, I think when we are asked about this thing, if there are any situation, we’ve seen enough 
situations and then we have seen the dramatic impact and how lives have been devastated as a result of these supposedly special circumstances,” said Kahn.
A presentation was given on how the drones would be utilized with minor interruptions by opposing groups.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said he will work with the ACLU to ensure its drones don’t violate privacy rights.