Aerial physical surveillance is the direct observation of people or activities from the air for the purpose of gathering information. In many countries, helicopters have traditionally been the predominant tool for this purpose. As drones become less expensive, their use is becoming more common. Surveillance planes are also occasionally used and are much more covert than helicopters.
Examples of aerial physical surveillance include:
- Observing the crowd during demonstrations or gatherings, often as part of an overt surveillance operation.
- Improving the chances of successfully following the target of surveillance during a covert surveillance operation, especially at night.
- Locating suspects soon after an action took place and the adversary has been alerted, especially in rural areas or at night (in the case of an arson in Germany, a police helicopter responded by flying over the area the same night[1]).
- Locating suspects as part of routine police patrols in areas at risk of criminal activity.
Surveillance planes can monitor entire cities, photographing up to 80 square kilometers per second, allowing for the slow-motion reconstruction of virtually any outdoor movement[2], with high-quality video at night[3].
See the “Aerial surveillance” topic.
Used in tactics: Incrimination
Mitigations
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Anonymous dress | If you are being followed by an aerial surveillance operation, you can change into anonymous clothing when you are in a location that is not visible from the air to make it harder for the aerial surveillance operation to re-establish contact with you when you emerge into an open area (this won't work if the surveillance operation is also observing you on the ground). |
| Anti-surveillance | You can include in an anti-surveillance route locations that would prevent an aerial surveillance operation from following you: an underground metro system, a shopping complex with many entrances, etc. |
| Attack | During a demonstration, you can take down drones with fireworks, hack them, or blind them with lasers. See also 5 widely accessible ways to take down drones. |
| Surveillance detection | You can conduct surveillance detection to detect most and helicopters and some drones by listening for potential helicopters and drones: you should be able to hear most of them, depending on their altitude and your surroundings. |
Used in repressive operations
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Berlin 2023 railway conspiracy case | The arrested people were discovered at night by a helicopter on a routine surveillance flight, presumably equipped with night-vision equipment[4]. A text[5] reports that in 2022, during another routine surveillance flight near Berlin, the same helicopter turned off its position lights and muffled the sound of its rotor blades to avoid detection: “Although the helicopter could still be heard, the noise was diminished. This can lead to misjudging the distance of the helicopter or, if mixed with other noise such as a highway, not being aware of the approaching problem until it's too late.” |
| Repression of the 2019 uprising in Chile | Drones were used to track rioters leaving riots in order to facilitate their arrest[6]. |