On September 7, 2019 Antonio Whitfield was found shot to death becoming Baltimore City’s 239^th homicide victim this year.[1] The city is on pace to eclipse 300 homicides a year, for the fourth straight year going back to 2015.[2] The unprecedented violence has led to marches and outcry’s from communities and politicians to end the killing. One outcry is for the redeployment of a highly controversial “spy plane” program that the police launched in 2016 without every notifying the public.

The “spy plane” program was originally funded in 2016 by a grant from Texas philanthropist John Arnold.[3] This created an issue because the police department did not have to go to the City Council for funding, thereby not giving the council any notice.[4] That year, the “spy plane” flew for about 300 hours until the public found out and the program was immediately ended.[5] While it was in operation, it did help solve the murder of an elderly couple in the Walbrook community.[6] However, it was also used to track hit and run suspects and individuals suspected of illegal dumping.[7]

Persistent Surveillance System Planes is the company that developed the technology used in the spy planes to originally be used in Iraq to track individuals that planted roadside bombs.[8] Since then it has been used to curb cartel violence along the border and provide a tool to law enforcement in American cities.[9] The “spy planes” are actually Cessna aircraft with a series of cameras attached to its belly.[10] The aircraft is capable of flight up to 10 hours and surveil an area of about 30 square miles, roughly 1/3 of the city.[11] The plane circles around the circles around the city, recording everything below, and saving the recordings on hard drives external to the plane.[12]

When a crime occurs, analysts with Persistent can pull up the crime scene from the saved recordings and watch every vehicle and person leaving the area.[13] However, the cameras can not make out identifiable features on people or the makes and models of cars.[14] The logic behind the technology is to track people in the vicinity of the crime scene knowing one is the killer. Analysts can track a suspects’ travel from the crime scene until they reach a house, then analysts can use Google maps to coordinate the address.[15] Analysts can also coordinate with street level cameras in an attempt to find a clearer image of a suspected killer.[16]

The natural reaction of most people is to reject the proposed intrusive surveillance and rightfully so. The last thing we want is to live in an Orwellian nightmare and have our every move tracked by Big Brother. Society fears the potential slippery slope this technology possesses and do not want to create a Minority Report system. However, Persistent is well aware of the hesitations and has offered a legitimate compromise.[17] The company insists that every keystroke made by analysts is recorded and a documented history of how the technology is used can be produced.[18] They propose that a independent review board be created to monitor the program and for the program be limited to only investigating major crimes.[19]

Despite the new proposal from Persistent, Mayor Jack Young and Baltimore City Police Commissioner Jack Young have publicly stated that they have no intention of re-starting the program.[20] But is that necessarily the best choice? If Persistent is offering full transparency and funding would again come from Mr. Arnold, is it not worth trying again? Having a review board to ensure transparency and uphold citizens rights would limit the technology’s application from issuing jay walking citations and make sure it is being applied as advertised.

Baltimore City is in need of drastic efforts to combat persistent violent crime. Citizens are afraid to testify in fear of retaliation from criminal syndicates, which leads to murders remaining unsolved and killers free. A short-term trial period to see if the “spy plane” technology works and to ensure citizens privacy concerns are not abrogated might be the drastic step the city needs.

Justin Ellis is a third year law student with an anticipated graduation date of December 2020. He has an interest in criminal law and public service, and hopes to become an Assistant State’s Attorney upon graduation. Prior to attending law school, Justin worked for a healthcare company in compliance and auditing. Justin is also a Marine Corps veteran.

[1] Baltimore Homicides, the baltimore sun, https://homicides.news.baltimoresun.com/?range=2019 (last visited Sep. 9, 2019).

[2] Baltimore Needs Help to Fix its Crime Problems, the economist, https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/08/03/baltimore-needs-help-to-fix-its-crime-problems (last visited 9/9/2019).

[3] Mike Hellgren, Remember the Surviellance Place That Flew Over Baltimore? It Could Fly Again, wjz 13 (Aug. 13, 2019), https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/08/13/remember-the-surveillance-plane-that-flew-over-baltimore-it-could-fly-again/.

[4] Jay Stanly, Baltimore Police Secretly Running Aerial Mass-Surveillance Eye in the Sky, aclu (Aug. 24, 2019), https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass?redirect=blog/free-future/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass-surveillance-eye-sky.

[5] Jayne Miller, Baltimore Police Department Uses Sophisticated Aerial Camera Surveillance System, wbal tv, (Aug. 24, 2016), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-police-department-uses-sophisticated-aerial-camera-surveillance-system/7102482.

[6] Mike Hellgren, Remember the Surviellance Place That Flew Over Baltimore? It Could Fly Again, wjz 13 (Aug. 13, 2019), https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/08/13/remember-the-surveillance-plane-that-flew-over-baltimore-it-could-fly-again/.

[7] Monte Reel, Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above, Bloomberg Businessweek (Aug. 23, 2016), https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baltimore-secret-surveillance/.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Jay Stanly, Baltimore Police Secretly Running Aerial Mass-Surveillance Eye in the Sky, aclu (Aug. 24, 2019), https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass?redirect=blog/free-future/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass-surveillance-eye-sky.

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] Monte Reel, Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above, Bloomberg Businessweek (Aug. 23, 2016), https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baltimore-secret-surveillance/.

[14] Kim Dacey, Push Renewed to Bring Back Use of Surveillance Plane Program in Baltimore, wbal tv (Aug. 12, 2019), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/push-to-bring-back-use-of-surveillance-plane-program-in-baltimore/28679072.

[15] Monte Reel, Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above, Bloomberg Businessweek (Aug. 23, 2016), https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baltimore-secret-surveillance/.

[16] Jay Stanly, Baltimore Police Secretly Running Aerial Mass-Surveillance Eye in the Sky, aclu (Aug. 24, 2019), https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass?redirect=blog/free-future/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass-surveillance-eye-sky.

[17] Kim Dacey, Push Renewed to Bring Back Use of Surveillance Plane Program in Baltimore, wbal tv (Aug. 12, 2019), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/push-to-bring-back-use-of-surveillance-plane-program-in-baltimore/28679072.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.