Ride the Lightning

Drone Footage Leads to Arrest of Alleged Prostitute and John

December 17, 2015

I must live a sheltered life because I had never heard of JohnTV.com until I read a recent news story in Naked Security – which gave a whole new meaning to the title of the publication. A word to the wise: Not a site to visit from a work computer. Unless you're me in my line of work and fascinated by the new sources of digital evidence.

A few weeks ago, it was license plate reader technology that lawmakers were thinking of using to determine who owns vehicles that cruise neighborhoods known for prostitution – the 'brilliant' idea being to send “John letters” to vehicle owners suspected of soliciting sex. I am sure divorce attorneys are salivating at that idea.

Cities including Minneapolis, Des Moines and Oakland, California, are already sending this type of letter, but Los Angeles’s possible use of license plate reader technology would automate and broaden the scope of public surveillance considerably.

It turns out that drones are a new prostitution-fighting surveillance tool. A 75-year-old man from Oklahoma, Douglas Blansett, was arrested and prosecuted after an anti-prostitution vigilante used his drone to capture footage of the man in a car with a suspected sex worker, allegedly naked in the passenger seat. Both Blansett and the woman were charged with engaging in a misdemeanor act of lewdness.

The drone was sent to spy on the couple by Brian Bates, a self-styled Video Vigilante® (yes, he has apparently registered the title) whose site says that since 1996 he’s been documenting the realities of street prostitution to expose johns on his website.

Bates conducted the drone surveillance in March 2015 and posted the footage to JohnTV.com in August 2015.

The drone begins its flight at minute 4:09 in the video. Within seconds, it’s hovering over a white pickup truck. By minute 4:31, the drone’s floating down to the truck. By 5:15, the drone is hovering in front of the windshield, focused on the driver, who’s leaning over the woman in the passenger’s seat. Perhaps realizing what was going on, the man straightens up and drives off at 5:49.

JohnTV turned the video over to police. According to the video, JohnTV.com has in the past twice been granted permission to access the private commercial property – a tire yard – he drives onto.

Naked Security quotes extensively from a post by Brian Bates. He recognizes there are issues with drone surveillance. At the moment, it appears to be legal in Oklahoma.

A local district attorney, Scott Rowland, confirmed the legality, telling News 9 that it’s perfectly legal for private citizens to take footage via drone and turn it over to the police.

When a civilian uses a drone and then provides the video to law enforcement, there are no search and seizure or other Constitutional issues, because the Constitution does not protect against the actions of private persons – only government actors.

The Federal Aviation Agency recently adopted registration and marking requirements for drones.

Bates, in his post, notes the following:

For one, all those obstacles you can safely avoid at 200 feet are now a potential lethal hazard to your drone when you drop to say 30 feet. And, because you’re now flying so low, you need to either be on public property or private property you have permission to be on.

The most concerning element though is the physical safety of anyone in the immediate area. So, if your suspects are out of their car you need to stay way back and not fly directly over them.

I agree. I remember very well the Christmas in which I gave in to John's pleadings and bought him a drone. He assured me that it was perfectly safe to fly the drone in our family room. The consequent mess of strewn family photos knocked off of shelves proved once and for all to me the danger of trying to manipulate drones in close quarters without causing harm.

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