Drone Man, the Portland Hero who Uncovered a Floating Bike Chop Shop on the Willamette River

As a Portlander, I've seen some shit. This is a famously weird city that the TV show Portlandia only somewhat exaggerates. If you watch that show or read the /r/portland subreddit, you probably know that Portland has a bike theft problem. Of course that's a problem in every city, but Portland takes it to a new level.

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As in, to the level where we've got floating bicycle chop shops on the Willamette river. Ain't that some shit? It's like Waterworld but with meth and stolen bike parts. The meth problem and the homelessness problem are the other two factors.

Though the homelessness problem is in part a result of the steep housing prices, if the newly homeless didn't get that way because of meth, that's what winds up keeping them homeless for the long term. It's a vicious cycle. A vicious...bi-cycle...if you will.

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This is why I don't take my bike downtown. Even if I kept my eyeballs on it the entire time, it would somehow get stolen. Criddlers (especially fucked up tweakers) abound here, and criddler tent colonies are always strewn with bike parts. They steal the bikes, take them apart, mix and match with parts from other bikes so it's not provable they were stolen, then fence 'em for money to buy more meth.

It's not hard to understand how someone gets trapped, or traps themselves, in this lifestyle. What's hard to understand is how it spirals out of control to the point where we've got floating criddler colonies.

It shows the lengths people will go to in order to facilitate their addiction. Hold down a job so you can afford both rent and meth? Fuck that. Build mini trashpunk seasteads where you tear down and reassemble bicycles? No problem(???)

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In fairness, there are plenty of "hoboats" on the Willamette, and colonies consisting of multiple hoboats which are not involved in bike theft. They just live there because a used boat was cheaper than land, and it's harder for cops to come out and hassle them to move when they live on the water.

However, we've also got hobos living on a few of the larger islands in the middle of the river. Same basic reason, it deters cops, though they still get raided now and then. They're instructed to move, but don't, and understandably not much is done to punish them. Where are they supposed to go?

Enter Droneman. The anonymous drone operator who, using his DJI drone, revealed candid close up looks at the lifestyles of these rare island criddlers:

He's also managed to get some invaluable footage of hoboats with multiple bicycles, some partway disassembled, which provide mounting evidence of illegal activity taking place on these boats and floating platforms:

By far his most famous discovery was the hobarge, a cobbled together floating chop shop (Without a doubt, based on the bike parts in plain view) which consists of a liveaboard boat with an adjacent floating platform and small dinghy for traveling to and from shore.

This is far from the only such operation, but it is the most elaborate we've seen so far. The footage attracted the attention of local news, who were permitted to use it providing Drone Man could remain anonymous. For obvious reasons, he'd be in a fair bit of danger if his identity were public knowledge:

He's hung up the cape since then, wanting to avoid the spotlight for his own safety. But the criddler/bike theft/meth problem hasn't disappeared or even diminished since then. Perhaps someone else with a drone will step into his shoes?

This isn't a solution to the complex interrelated problems of substance abuse, homelessness and bike theft. But it does supply a more intimate and awareness-cultivating view of the problem than was available prior to the proliferation of consumer drones.

The attention which the use of these drones attracts to such social problems may yet play a role in hastening political solutions. Drone Man was never looking to profit off the misery of criddlers, or make himself famous. If anything he's only endangered himself in the process.

Instead, he (and possibly subsequent drone-vigilantes to come) fight crime by shining a spotlight on it. The power of drones to bring images of previously hidden social problems into the view of the public has, in my opinion, only just begun to be tapped.