Cop Lands Helicopter to Harass Woman

A San Bernardino police officer piloting a helicopter was caught on camera circling a lone woman in the desert, before landing the chopper and then proceeding to harass her in a ridiculous example of how police resources are being wasted to shake down innocent people.

The clip begins with the police helicopter making numerous over flights of the woman as she films the chopper.

The helicopter then shines a light in the direction of the woman as it hovers lower and prepares to land. The chopper lands and the pilot, an officer with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office, approaches the woman and asks her what she is doing.

“Just exploring and picking up rocks,” the woman responds.

The cop then demands the woman’s ID to which she responds she doesn’t have any. When the woman asks why he is questioning her, the cop responds, “We’re investigating something right now.”

The police officer then proceeds to take the woman’s name and date of birth in order to perform a criminal background check via his walkie-talkie.

After he gets a response from police headquarters, the cop asks the woman if she has any weapons, orders her, “don’t put your hands in your pockets,” and then proceeds to perform an unconstitutional search of her person.

“I know you’re doing your job but I don’t consent to a search,” says the woman as the cop continues to rifle through her belongings.

The cop eventually walks back to the helicopter having nullified whatever threat a woman out in the middle of the desert posed to the safety of San Bernardino residents.

With many police departments across the country going broke and telling citizens they will no longer be able to respond to crimes like criminal damage and burglaries, the officer’s actions during this incident represent a ludicrous waste of police resources.

It costs well over $2,000 dollars an hour to fuel a police helicopter. The video footage lasts ten minutes, and even after the cop lands the chopper, he keeps the rotator blades switched on during the entire incident.

At the start of the clip, the woman indicates the helicopter made several low passes before landing. Given that the duration of the incident probably ran to about half an hour, this absurd event cost taxpayers about a thousand dollars – all for the purpose of pointlessly violating an innocent woman’s 4th amendment right.