One of the most glaring examples of the NYPD’s aggressive response to recent protests against racist police violence has been its use of helicopters. A Gothamist/WNYC review of police helicopters from May 29th until June 16th found that four NYPD helicopters monitored protests for a combined 186 hours.
While it is hard to compare that hourly number to any other time because this moment in New York City’s history is unprecedented, protesters and witnesses on the streets said the helicopter presence at protests has been nearly constant and disturbing. And whether they were supposed to surveil or intimidate—or both—remains unclear because the police department has not yet answered questions about their helicopter strategy at protests.
Tracking data revealed that the helicopters at recent New York City protests flew unusually low to the ground. According to Flightradar24, one helicopter flew 100 feet above sea level in the Fordham section of the Bronx on June 2nd, a night that included looting and vandalism. [Note that the website measures height flown above sea level and does not account for elevation, meaning the helicopters could be flying much closer to the street than is recorded.]
Jalen Robinson, 20, from Crown Heights, organized a march on Juneteenth through the streets of Brooklyn, blocking traffic and using a megaphone to rally the crowd. He wore a shirt with an image from the 1968 Olympics: two African-American medalists with their fists in the air, a sign of Black power and protest.
Of his own protest, he said the mood was joyful.
“There was a lot of smiles on people’s faces, there was a lot of positive energy,” Robinson said, adding that the only thing that bothered him were the hovering helicopters. “It was very odd to see them flying so low, and close to us because we were just peacefully protesting.”
Flightradar24 data showed two helicopters monitoring his June 19th march from Brooklyn Museum to Borough Hall, one flying at 500 feet and another as low as 375 feet above sea level. City Councilman Brad Lander participated in the same march and said it felt like the helicopters were doing donuts overhead.
“It was really intimidating. To me, it feels pretty clear that that was really the point,” Lander said. “Even if your purpose was surveillance, which would be really unconscionable, there was just no reason to believe anyone in this march was doing anything other than peaceful protest.”
According to experts, surveillance is their main purpose.
“Helicopter use can be very useful for that,” said Brian Higgins, a retired police chief in Bergen County, NJ, and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “They can identify people, literally pick out who’s doing what. Who’s carrying objects. Who’s organizing.”
Listen to reporter Stephen Nessen's radio story for WNYC:
The NYPD’s Bell 429 helicopters, the model used during all the protests, are equipped with infrared cameras and a laptop that can zoom in on people’s faces.
Beyond surveillance, there’s also the intimidation factor. Noisy hulking helicopters raise tension and stress among people on the ground. And the flight patterns from the first two weeks of protests show that the pilots chose to fly very low to the ground, especially in the Bronx.
Over Manhattan the police helicopters generally flew at 1,000 feet or more above sea level, often as high as 2,000 feet. But when they entered the Bronx they began flying low again, in the range of 100 to 500 feet. Most helicopters in Brooklyn, especially Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and Park Slope, flew generally at around 500 feet above sea level, according to flight tracking data.
“In 25 years of being out in the street at protests, I have never once in New York seen a helicopter that low. That’s extraordinary,” said Chris Dunn legal director for the New York Civil Liberties Union. “I think it's hard to view that as anything other than an intimidation tactic. They don't need to be that low to observe what’s going on. Particularly with the new cameras they have.”
Retired NYPD Lieutenant and Chief Pilot, as well as Director of Training in the Aviation Unit, Ken Solosky told Gothamist/WNYC he did not think flying so low was dangerous.
“The only rule in a helicopter is you’ve got to be able to safely land in case of an engine failure,” he said.
And Solosky said he did not think the helicopters were flying low to disrupt protests or intimidate people.
“Certainly never in my time, and I’d be shocked if it was in today’s time,” he said. “I could see no reason for that, there are police officers down there too. And if they’re trying to communicate it would be equally disruptive and noisy for them.”
The FAA wouldn’t comment on how the NYPD has been using its helicopters, saying in a statement that the agency must comply with its rules. The agency’s rule on helicopter height recommends flying at a lowest altitude of 1,000 feet in crowded congested areas. But it also allows helicopters to fly lower if it’s not a "hazard to persons or property."
While there was damage to buildings, police property and officers on the ground in the first two weeks of protests, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said he didn’t think spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on helicopters was a necessary expense.
“It seems there were resources not well spent, in response to the protests,” Williams said, adding he would like the city to review the issue.
There may be some light shed on the helicopter strategies and tactics soon. A recently passed City Council bill, awaiting Mayor Bill de Blasio’s signature, would require the NYPD to report on and evaluate all the surveillance tools used by police, including helicopters.
The NYPD has declined to comment on how and why it used helicopters during the protests, or how much they cost. Instead their public information office directed all questions to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA didn’t return calls or emails for comment.
One industry website pegged the Bell 429 model at about $5 million each, although with the NYPD’s additional bells and whistles, it likely would cost much more. Wired magazine estimated the cost at $10 million each. And how they cost per hour is also unclear, but several industry sites estimated between $1,000 and $1,600 an hour with fuel and other costs. All that adds up to an estimated cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly above the rolling protests.
“The main thing that bothers me is we’re using our tax dollars on them patrolling peaceful protests, and it does kinda feel like a waste,” march organizer Robinson said. The surveillance and heavy police presence, those don’t faze him. “I will say, it won’t deter me from going out and organizing again.”
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June 24, 2020 at 03:39AM
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How Low Did Those NYPD Helicopters Go At Recent Protests? - Gothamist
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