--- description: "It's always all about safety," said the St. Louis County police chief title: Police Deny Ferguson No-Fly Zone Was Designed to Keep Media Out image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbdf527401926c4b/698763f72dce0149fc9db470/ferguson-police.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Ferguson](/tag/ferguson/) ## Ferguson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # St. Louis Police Deny Ferguson No-Fly Zone Was to Keep Media Out  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2014 2:05 AM CUT  Police stand watch as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Police stand watch as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2014 2:05 AM CUT St. Louis County police [denied Monday that a no-fly zone](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/us-usa-missouri-shooting-idUSKBN0IN1LA20141103 "undefined") established over the suburb of Ferguson during protests earlier this year was set up to keep news helicopters away. “It’s always all about safety,” St. Louis County Chief of Police Jon Belmar at a press conference, Reuters reports. “That’s the bottom line on this.” On Sunday the Associated Press reported that audio recordings it had obtained through Freedom of Information Act Requests revealed local authorities openly acknowledging that the no-fly zone was about keeping media outlets out. Belmar said the 12-day, 37-square-mile no-fly zone was established after pilots claimed they saw muzzle flashes and lasers aimed at them. The AP reports that air traffic workers had difficulty defining the ban in a way that would allow commercial flights and police helicopters through but keep news helicopters out. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/03/us-usa-missouri-shooting-idUSKBN0IN1LA20141103 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3555617/ferguson-no-fly-zone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3555617/ferguson-no-fly-zone/"},"headline":"St. Louis Police Deny Ferguson No-Fly Zone Was to Keep Media Out","datePublished":"2014-11-04T02:05:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:11:56.455Z","description":"\"It's always all about safety,\" said the St. Louis County police chief","url":"https://time.com/3555617/ferguson-no-fly-zone/","keywords":["Ferguson","police","Ferguson topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbdf527401926c4b/698763f72dce0149fc9db470/ferguson-police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbdf527401926c4b/698763f72dce0149fc9db470/ferguson-police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man","caption":"Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ferguson/","name":"Ferguson"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3555617/ferguson-no-fly-zone/","name":"St. Louis Police Deny Ferguson No-Fly Zone Was to Keep Media Out"}}]}] ```