Harrison: 'No Decision' On Surveillance Flights

After a meeting Monday with the operator of controversial surveillance flights over Baltimore, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said there is "no decision" on whether the flights will return.

Though a police spokesman earlier indicated that Harrison had "no plans" to bring the flights back, Harrison said Tuesday that there's been no firm call either way.

“They gave an excellent presentation," Harrison said. "There’s no decision is what we decided on yesterday, so there’s much more information that I would need, but the decision is that there’s no decision.”

NEW: Regarding spy plane, Comm Harrison says after meeting yesterday, “They gave an excellent presentation. There’s no decision is what we decided on yesterday, so there’s much more information that I would need, but the decision is that there’s no decision.” @wbalradio pic.twitter.com/jTCeCJIB7W — Phil Yacuboski (@WBALPhil) August 20, 2019

Ross McNutt, CEO of Persistent Surveillance Solutions, said last week he has secured an anonymous donor to pay for administration and oversight of the program. Small planes use cameras to capture half the city at a high altitude, allowing investigators to trace the path of cars or individuals leaving crime scenes and other information that could provide officers with leads. However, some residents and activists raised privacy concerns.

McNutt lined up the meeting to pitch the flights to Harrison. McNutt has not returned a request for comment.

The program was first used in 2016 after a crime spike in the months after the death of Freddie Gray. The program was abandoned after its existence became publicly known. Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young, then the City Council president, didn't know anything about it until reading news reports.

Young was not present at the Monday meeting. That afternoon, he said whether to bring back the surveillance flights is "up to the citizens of Baltimore" and stressed the need for more involvement from residents in helping to solve crimes.

"Our best spy plane is our citizens in Baltimore to start reporting, to start telling what they see," Young said.

He acknowledged that some residents may have trust issues with the police. He said those residents can just call or email his office with crime tips.

Young said Wednesday that he has no opinion on whether or not the flights should return.

"I stand by the commissioner and what he deemed as a part of his crime-fighting strategy and I'm not going to supersede what he wants to do," Young said. "If he wants to use it, it's up to him."

He and Harrison are set to meet with Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday in Baltimore. Young declined to go into detail on the agenda for that meeting, which is expected to center on crime strategies.

"We need help with our crime initiatives that we're having in Baltimore and other initiatives that that I want the governor to help us with," Young said.

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Phil Yacuboski and Robert Lang contributed to this report.