It’s really hard not to laugh at the Palm Bay Police department’s new SOAR program. Palm Bay Police has been on the forefront of many programs that have kept the force relatively small and efficient considering the vast size of the city. But maybe SOAR is taking it too far?
SOAR stands for Search Operations Aerial Response. They’ll be flying “powered paragliders” - essentially parachutes with lawnmower engines - as low as 400 feet. On occasion, they’ll be flying over your yard.
If you were tired of the helicopters flying over your neighborhood - at times, for over an hour - get ready for more annoyance.
The city even spent money to bulletproof the seat of the officer on the paraglider. While it may seem reasonable that a criminal might fire a weapon at a pursuing police officer, it’s probably more likely they would get hit by birdshot in some areas of south Palm Bay, just by accident. Or a model rocket.
So what does the city plan to do with these new aerial patrols? According to their website, the police department “intends on using this aircraft for search and rescue operations for missing endangered children and adults, surveillance and reconnaissance, locating stolen and discarded vehicles and other property, identifying hazards within the City, photographing crime scenes, and damage assessment after disasters.”
Most of this sounds well and good. But wait a minute. Did they say “surveillance”? Without a court order? Shouldn’t the average citizen have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their fenced backyard? While the implied meaning is quite clearly to locate drug growing operations, think twice about laying out nude in your backyard. Unless you enjoy teasing officers a mere ten stories above you.
While officers have long enjoyed the ability to use ‘casual’ observations in public areas as grounds for arrests and investigations (i.e. they see you punch your neighbor in your front lawn as they drive by), this is far more intrusive.
Considering the cost of flying an officer around (not to mention the increase in insurance premiums), they might as well put up cameras on huge towers that blanket the entire city. Of course, no one would tolerate that. But somehow Palm Bay citizens are supposed to be okay with this?
The Palm Bay Police Department needs to do two things immediately if they want public support on this.
First, they need to reassure the public that flyovers over residential neighborhoods will comply with the Fourth Amendment against search and seizure, that pilots will not photograph or intrude into the privacy of families and individuals without a court warrant, and that pilots will immediately fly away from any backyard scene that could disrupt, embarrass, or humiliate a Palm Bay citizen.
Additionally, officers should not be allowed to file any type of report (no matter how informal) or broadcast any message in relation to personal backyard activities. Sadly, officers (in any force) can not be left to their own judgment on this, and unless there is a clear and public policy on this, it won’t be long before legal challenges cost the city big money (and by extension Palm Bay citizens).
Considering that this is a “first” (no other police department in the nation currently uses low-flying air patrols over residential neighborhoods), Palm Bay can not afford to be the legal testing grounds of dozens (if not hundreds) of legal challenges.
The Police Department needs to go “above and beyond” simple courtesy by providing clear guidelines for their officers, and posting them on its website so the public knows when officers are violating command orders (should that happen).
Second, the department needs to increase regular vehicle patrols. Think about this. When was the last time you saw a Palm Bay police officer patrolling a neighborhood or business parking lot? One of the smart moves Palm Bay made many years ago was the purchase of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles to help get officers into more remote areas of the city. Yet, every time you see the slightest disturbance in Palm Bay, it’s a 3-vehicle minimum. It’s not unusual to see six or seven vehicles respond to simple matters of domestic abuse, minor vandalism, and traffic stops.
Chief Bill Berger, coming up on his fifth year, initially shook things up at PBPD. But, aside from the novelty of this paraglider program (and his department’s bizarre request last year for the use of a CIA spy drone plane which was rejected by the FAA according to Florida Today), the department seems content to let patrol cars congest at intersections. Of which, no doubt, criminals are well aware, as well as wildfire starters. The point of a car is not to sit still. Sitting in a patrol car at McDonald’s writing field reports is not why officers are supplied with vehicles.
It’s time to force patrols on foot and car and make better use of the resources already supplied to the department. While the paraglider may prove useful in locating lost children (or stolen cars) and for patrolling non-residential areas, Palm Bay citizens need to see solid community policing if they are going to support long-term efforts to combine aerial patrolling methods with traditional patrolling techniques.
