Police Drones Deployed To Catch Topless Sunbathers
We know by know that the cops have lost their shit. But did you know they’ve got spy drones on nude beaches? Call the perv patrol!
Police Use Drones To Check For Nudity On Twin Cities Beach
Citing unspecified complains, cops watched a secluded beach with drones until they saw nudity, then sent in officers to take names and issue citations. But they didn’t send enough cops, and eventually had to retreat:
The Golden Valley Police Department used a drone to catch beachgoers breaking the law by going topless or nude at Twin Lake, just west of Theodore Wirth Park.
The serenity on the somewhat hidden beach is what draws visitors, along with an understanding of sorts that many freely bare their body. Elsie Olin frequents the beach.
“It’s really well known for being a safe place to just be comfortable,” Olin said.
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Repeated complaints led to Friday’s enforcement. It included seven officers from GVPD and Minneapolis Parks Police.
“At that point everybody was fully clothed. We had tops on. There was no indecent exposure,” Olin said.
Even though their clothes were back on, it was too late. Golden Valley Police Det. Sgt. Randy Mahlen said people were caught in the act thanks to their drone that was surveying the beach from afar.
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“What it did was validate all of these complaints we’ve been getting from residents,” Mahlen said. “It would be no different than a surveillance camera in a public place for a high-crime area.”
Paula Chesley was at a secluded spot on Twin Lake not far from the main beach. She was laying on her stomach and reading a book with her bathing suit top pulled down, exposing her breasts. She was shocked when several officers approached her and asked for her information to potentially write her a citation.
“If they are gonna cite anyone for toplessness I’m glad it’s me because I have energy to fight this,” Chesley said. “I think it’s really silly that people of all genders with all sorts of breasts can’t show them.”
Learning that police used a drone as part of their investigation gave her a different feeling.
“It does make you feel uncomfortable to just think like, oh, how often am I being watched? And what kind of authority is going on here?” she said.
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Mahlen said officers were prepared to take information from several people who had been topless or nude, but that hostility from the crowd changed their plans.
“We made the choice that things were only escalating and we chose to leave,” he said.
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“Nudity is natural. There’s nothing sexual about my breasts,” Olin said.
Chesley agrees.
“I can understand people’s concerns based on the sexualization of the female breasts, and I would like to be able to move toward not so much sexualization of that,” Chesley said.
