Wonder About the Low-Flying Helicopters Over the Neighborhood?
A low-flying helicopter over 14th Street NW. (Borderstan file photo)
For several months Borderstan residents have heard the buzz of low-flying helicopters on regular patrol in the neighborhood. One occasionally hears police choppers in the area, of course, especially when the DC Police are pursuing a criminal.
Two sources with the DC Police confirmed to Borderstan over the weekend that the police choppers have been part of a regular series of patrols. The reason? The “demonstrations downtown” related to Occupy DC, according to the police. The helicopters are on a flight pattern that often extends north — after all, it’s only a short walk to McPherson Square, site of the main Occupy DC site.
As one reader wrote to Borderstan:
“Have you guys noticed over the past few months that there seems to be a helicopter constantly circling the area? I’ve been seeing it — and hearing it — as early as 6 am and as late as midnight. It seems like it’s policing something. But I haven’t been able to find any info about it on the web. I’d like to know what’s going on because it often flies so low and close that it wakes up my baby and wife while they’re getting much-needed sleep.”
If you have lived in DC at the time of September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, you quickly learn to differentiate the difference between police and military helicopters — the military choppers are much larger and noisier. The first couple of years after 9-11, military choppers made regular patrols along 16th Street NW.
