For weeks, cameras and lights were pointed at and around the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in McMinnville, OR, home to a camp of houseless individuals.

I asked the McMinnville Police Department yesterday morning (1/13/25) for comment about how tall the new downtown tower was, and by afternoon, it had been removed; the corner of 1st and Cowls had been turned back into a parking space for City & Civic Hall.

According to the front office of First Baptist Church of McMinnville, they were not notified that their parking lot was under surveillance. As for the group of people that sleeps in and around the parking lot where the cameras were pointed towards, when asked this morning how they felt about the surveillance tower being there, they said they were relieved it was gone.

As of now, the tower is down and there has been no comment from the McMinnville Police Department about why the tower was there, if there was a warrant, and why it was removed yesterday. (Updated below in comments.)

It’s true that shortly after the tower went up, the houseless community mostly moved away from the area. It may have even reduced crime in the surrounding neighborhood. But, as soon as the police tower disappeared, the community started to come back to the sidewalks and parking lot it calls home.

When I talked to the group downtown this afternoon, they mentioned that the police will follow them around and harass them. But one person mentioned that the only good officer was Officer Heidt, and everyone there wholeheartedly agreed. In fact, one individual said that he was the only person that “cared”.

I can attest to his caring. When I pulled up to the camp today there was one officer there, handing over a pack of cigarettes to a person who is sitting on the ground; that was Officer Heidt. He didn’t have to do that, he wasn’t gonna be compensated for that, but he did it because it made someone content, or even happy.

I’m waiting to hear back from the MPD Public Information Officer and I might reach out to the city for comment. But for now, that’s it; I’ll update when I have more information.

Update: According to the PIO, this would be surveillance of a public area, without a warrant; not warrantless surveillance of a private property. Surveillance occurred from Dec 5th to yesterday afternoon, Jan 13th.

However, they did confirm that no one was notified, and that no warrant was obtained. They also confirmed that their surveillance may have intruded upon private property.

-Andrew Brunello