Police Surveillance Flights Over the Portland Metro Region: Watching Them Watching Us

Miki Barnes
July 20, 2021

Are police aerial surveillance programs reducing the crime rate, or making it worse? A number of studies suggest that the noise, lead emissions and other pollutants released by these operations actually increase violence as well as stress and anxiety.

The Portland Police Aerial Support Unit was established in 1990. According to its website it has flown "an average of 750 hours a year for each of the past ten years. This is an incredible 225 missions annually..." The surveillance approach to law enforcement stands in stark contrast to community policing with its potential for face to face interactions in local neighborhoods where connections and relationships can be developed and strengthened. Aerial surveillance, by contrast, involves anonymously looking down on people from above, at a distance, so that they appear small and insignificant.

Last summer, a 6/12/2020 news story, "Who is Flying Circles Over Portland Protests?" reported on the police surveillance that occurred during the demonstrations triggered by the tragic murder of George Floyd.

"Using publicly available flight data, KGW found since large demonstrations began in Portland, police have spent more than 65 hours flying surveillance. The aircraft has circled the sky every night since May 28, except for one. On most nights, the police airplane took off around 7 p.m., had a short break (presumably for refueling) and then landed in the early morning hours, often after 2 a.m."

Flight radar tracking data reveals that police surveillance flights are not limited to protests and demonstrations. They occur on a regular basis and have been for years.

The flight track examples below are but a small sample of the numerous police surveillance flights tracks that have become commonplace in the skies over the Portland Metro region.

 

7-17-2021 PDX Police Aerial Surveillance

The screenshot above was captured on Saturday 7-17-2021 at 10:04 PM. It shows an aircraft registered to the Portland Police Bureau (N2163J) returning to the Aurora Airport after circling neighborhoods in the Portland-Vancouver area for several hours, all the while generating noise and releasing lead emissions and a number of other toxic pollutants. (See close-ups below)

This is a close-up of the PDX Police Bureau aircraft N2163J. It depicts the flight pattern produced by the aircraft after it circled more than 30 times over NE Vancouver homes and neighborhoods in Clark County, Washington. This screenshot was captured on 7-17-2021 at 8:28PM.

This close-up captured at 9:56 PM shows the 7-17-2021 PDX Police Bureau aircraft (N2163J) flight tracks produced from repetitively flying over various neighborhoods in Portland including tight circles over the Powell Butte Nature Park as well as the Montevilla and Maywood Park neighborhoods.

 

7/15/2021 PDX and Washington County Law Enforcement Aerial Surveillance

This screenshot, taken on 7/15/2021 at 10:28 PM, depicts the flight tracks produced by a Portland Police Bureau aircraft N2163J. After taking off from the Aurora Airport, it circled and looped over the Fairview area, various parts of Vancouver and Clark County as well as neighborhoods in Southeast, Northeast and North Portland.

 

This screenshot, captured on 7/15/2021 at 9:26 PM shows an aircraft registered to Washington County (N575RW), flying repetitively over SE Portland, Beaverton and parts of Hillsboro for approximately 2 hours before returning to the Hillsboro Airport.

 

7/14/2021 PDX Police Aircraft Activity

This screenshot of a flight track produced by a Portland Police Bureau aircraft N2163J was captured on 7/14/2021 at 11:17 PM. After taking off from the Aurora Airport, the aircraft proceeded to circle repetitively for hours over Southeast, Northeast, and North Portland neighborhoods.

Environmental, Social and Health Impacts of Aviation Noise and Pollution

Portland, like many cities has experienced a steep increase in homicides, shootings and other violent crimes over the past couple of years. There are many contributing factors including, but not limited to, easy access to guns, pandemic stress, institutionalized racism, inadequate substance abuse and mental health treatment options, and economic disparities. There is mounting evidence that exposure to environmental toxins also has an impact.

Lead

Piston-engine general aviation aircraft, the type used for flight training, recreational flying and by PDX and Washington County law enforcement, still rely on leaded fuel (avgas). Per the EPA, these aircraft are responsible for 62 percent of all airborne lead emissions in the U.S. Lead is a pernicious neurotoxin which can cause irreversible damage. According to the CDC, "No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement." Lead exposure is linked with ADHD, learning and behavior problems, and diminished IQ, as well as increased aggression and violence. Unborn fetuses are also at risk. In addition, lead has a negative impact on adults. As explained by the CDC, "Even at low doses, lead exposure can cause: heart and kidney problems, problems with thinking (mental dysfunction), and reproductive health and pregnancy problems."

In 2018 Kevin Drum released a follow-up study to his 2012 Mother Jones article, Lead: America's Real Criminal Element. Both reported on the dramatic decline in violent crime that occurred after lead was removed from automotive fuel. In the words of the author, "lead poisoning degrades the development of childhood brains in ways that increase aggression, reduce impulse control, and impair the executive functions that allow people to understand the consequences of their actions. Because of this, infants who are exposed to high levels of lead are more likely to commit violent crimes later in life."

Noise

A 2/13/2018 Journal of the American College of Cardiology article entitled "Environmental Noise and the Cardiovascular System" explored some of the negative health effects of both road and air traffic noise on humans and animals. According to the researchers,

Noise annoyance can lead to chronic stress reaction "which may result in manifest adverse health effects."

• "Chronic stress may also generate cardiovascular risk factors on its own, including increased blood pressure, glucose levels, blood viscosity and blood lipids, and activation of blood coagulation" which may lead to cardiovascular disease.
• "...emotional stress induced by nighttime aircraft noise exposure has been associated with stress cardiomyopathy (Takotsubo syndrome), a phenomenon that has been linked to excessive stress hormone release."
• "...high levels of environmental noise have been associated with mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, conditions that are known to adversely affect cardiovascular function."

A 2018 CNN article "Noise: The Other Pollution Hurting Our Health", reporting on an update to World Health Organization noise guidelines for Europe noted that "Children were particularly affected by airplane noise, with evidence showing effects on reading comprehension and development of metabolic syndromes, such as obesity and diabetes."

The following excerpt, from a column written by Mike Easter for the April 2021 AARP Bulletin sheds additional light on this issue.

"In the past few centuries humans have increased the overall loudness of the world eightfold. Today we've become so uncomfortable in silence that half of us keep the TV on all the time just to avoid it. The problem is that noise causes our brain to release stress hormones because in our ancient environment, loud noises signaled danger. A study of neighborhoods near airports found that anti-anxiety medication use rises a relative 28 percent for every 10-decibel increase the neighborhood experiences." [Italics Mine]

Air Pollution

The Effect of Pollution on Crime: Evidence from Particulate matter and Ozone published in November of 2019 in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management found "a robust positive effect of increased air pollution on violent crimes, and specifically assaults..." As explained in a World Economic Forum article Scientists Now Think Air Pollution is Fueling Violent Crime "a team from Colorado State University have found that particulates - tiny particles of soot - and ozone play a crucial role in increasing aggressive and violent behaviour at levels of pollution below current safety guidelines...By comparing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime statistics with an eight-year study of air quality in the United States, the team found a link between the concentration of pollutants and the prevalence of offences, such as aggravated assault and abusive behaviour."

A 2/07/2018 Science News article, Polluted Air May Pollute Our Morality, also found a correlation between pollution and increased violence. "Exposure to air pollution, even imagining exposure to air pollution, may lead to unethical behavior, according to new findings. A combination of archival and experimental studies indicates that exposure to air pollution, either physically or mentally, is linked with unethical behavior such as crime and cheating. The experimental findings suggest that this association may be due, at least in part, to increased anxiety."

Air pollution also exacerbates medical conditions. A Harvard study, Linking Air Pollution to Higher Coronavirus Death Rates, found that, "People with COVID-19 who live in U.S regions with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from the disease than people who live in less polluted areas...the researchers found that a small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 leads to a large increase in the COVID-19 death rate."

Closing Remarks

The issues cited above suggest that current aerial surveillance tactics may actually be fueling an increase in crime rather than ameliorating it. Not only do lead emissions, noise, PM2.5, ozone and other pollutants increase stress, anxiety, annoyance and aggravation, they also negatively impact mental health, brain function, and physical development.

In light of these findings, aerial surveillance, by law enforcement agencies prompts a number of questions and concerns some of which are listed below.

• How much does it cost to run the PDX Aerial Support Unit as well as other aerial surveillance activities in neighboring counties?
• How much public money has been spent to date on these surveillance missions? A spreadsheet dating back to 1990 would be helpful.
• To what extent does the cost of aerial surveillance contribute to a depletion of resources for other crucial programs and reform measures?
• Were residents told that their tax dollars were going to be spent on aerial surveillance activities?
• How much was spent on monitoring Black Lives Matter protests in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder?
• What are the health and economic costs of relentlessly and routinely dousing homes, neighborhoods, schools, day care centers, senior facilities, parks and other recreational areas in concentrated layers of lead emissions, noise, and other toxic pollutants?
• Who is piloting these aircraft? Does the program have ties to the Portland Community College (PCC) Aviation Sciences program, Hillsboro Aero Academy, ATP or other flight training schools in area?

Note: In March of 2020 Oregon Aviation Watch released an article entitled Small Planes Circling Portland Skies. After the posting, we learned the flight tracks included in the article were produced by aircraft registered to the Portland Police Bureau.