Shortly after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, I went to downtown Boston to take part in protests at the State House and at City Hall Plaza. I’ve been to several protests in the past 14 months. These were notable for a State Police helicopter that hovered low enough over the crowd that it was hard to hear. One of the speakers Jan. 10 pointed at the aircraft and yelled to the crowd, “they are not here to protect you, they are here to surveil you.”
When I got home, I decided to try to find out whatever I could about those helicopters. I logged into the state police website and submitted a public records request. I asked for flight and mission plans, goals, after-action reports and any photographic, video or biometric records captured during the flight. It took a bit of pushing to get a response, including an email to the Secretary of State’s Office when the department didn’t acknowledge my request within the required 10 business days. Nearly six weeks later, I finally got a link to download the records.
Public records requests are an underappreciated tool for evening out the power disparity between government and the public. They are surprisingly easy: There are no magic words, and you don’t need special credentials. Every government department has a records officer whose contact information is public. You just email them and ask. The government is not required to create documents in response to a query. I use this to my advantage by phrasing my requests so even a lack of documents tells a story. There is also a limit in which if a request is so broad it will take a staffer more than a couple hours to go through and redact personal information, the department can estimate the required time and ask for payment in advance.
For some great examples of historical queries, I encourage you to check out Muckrock. It’s a nonprofit that maintains a website with a database of record officers and tools for submitting requests and sending reminders automatically. Maybe most important, MuckRock allows you to remain anonymous, which can be important for obvious reasons.
The State Police provided a heavily redacted “daily administrative journal” that documented the calls to the air wing to “assist with protests in Boston.” There was a flight manifest for each of the two helicopters that were dispatched. Much to my surprise, the department included more than an hour of video from the helicopters.
Early on, the operators take a long slow look at the rooftops surrounding the plaza and pause to zoom in on the groups of police on the ground, including the four people watching from the roof of city hall. After that, most of the camera’s time is spent watching the crowd. As the helicopter circles and circles, I could see each speaker’s face, as well as a selection of people in the crowd singled out for a closer look. I will admit that I was vaguely hoping to see myself, but apparently, I wasn’t what they were looking for.
The camera seems to be a powerful device. At one point it flipped into a thermal (infrared) image. At another, a menu appeared with functions such as “haze penetration” and “target lock.” The operators don’t seem to have used the latter, instead manually tracking a person in an inflatable unicorn costume and a child on a scooter who was quickly followed by an adult.
The sheer power this platform gives the police made me thoughtful. It was easy for the operators to see people in identifying detail. I could imagine them coordinating over radio with their colleagues on the ground, who would intercept folks as they tried to leave.
That is, of course, the point of a police helicopter. We’ve all seen footage of high-speed pursuits, with a spotlight and a booming voice from above demanding that the supposed criminal surrender. Seeing that same relentless eye pointed at a peaceful protest – and even at a child on a scooter – gave me pause. This particular protest was, without exaggeration, about the fact that federal agents are shooting people in the streets. It’s not hard to make the chilling connection.
I encourage everybody to exercise good judgement and discretion when going to protests. I think it’s important that we keep speaking up for our democracy, but the eye in the sky is watching.
Reach out via cdwan@csindie.com.
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