September 2007

Airborne Law Enforcement Association, Inc.

ALEA  E-Newsletter

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CAA to Host Safety Management Systems Seminar

The United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will host a Safety Management Systems (SMS) seminar in London on September 21, 2007 at the Royal Aeronautical Society. The seminar is intended for CEOs, managing directors and those involved in SMS to help prepare the industry for the International Civil Aviation Organization SMS standards that become effective January 1, 2009.

Speakers from senior positions across the industry will discuss the significant safety and business benefits that SMS has delivered in their organizations. Speakers from the CAA will describe the regulator’s view of Safety Management Systems, the legislation emerging from Europe to make the implementation of SMS mandatory, how the CAA is gearing up to support industry adopt and implement SMS, and the potential changes in the CAA’s oversight of industry that may result from the effective use of SMS.

Source: www.caa.co.uk

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Tucson Police Dept. Auctions Cessna

The Tucson (AZ) Police Department is auctioning its 1966 Cessna 172G in order to raise funds to purchase a newer aircraft. The aircraft has been used for surveillance and aerial photography since 1998 to support police operations. An FAA certified inspector last month found the plane to be airworthy. The auction started August 10 and will continue through September 7. For more information, please visit the City Of Tucson’s auction site at www.publicsurplus.com/sms/tucsonaz.gov and search for auction number 205025.

Source: www.aero-news.net

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Spain Launches Speed Camera Helicopters

The government of Spain announced last month that it was moving forward with a plan to use surveillance helicopters in major cities to issue speeding tickets. This system employs a Wescam MX15 forward-looking infrared camera, which takes close-up photographs of the vehicle's license plate while an airborne radar system generates a speed estimate that appears on the video image.

Officials with Direccion General de Trafico (DGT) claim this radar is accurate from an altitude of 1,000 feet and a distance of one kilometer (.6 miles). Despite the enormous expense, DGT hopes to have speed camera-equipped helicopters patrolling Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Zaragoza, Valladolid and A Coruna.

Source: www.thenewspaper.com

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Calgary Agency’s Second Aircraft Goes Operational

Last month, the Calgary Police Service Air Services Unit, located in Calgary Alberta, Canada, placed its second Eurocopter EC120 B into operational service. Given the call sign of HWC1, the aircraft was purchased in March 2007 and finalized its modifications in June. The acquisition of HWC1 comes one year after the Calgary Police Service’s original purchase of its first Eurocopter EC120 B (HWC2), replacing the Air Services Unit’s original MD 520N. The Calgary Police Service Air Services Unit’s primary role is to provide air support to ground personnel, as well as conducting interagency missions with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Calgary Fire Department and the Calgary Emergency Medical Service.

Source: www.calgarypolice.ca

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Marijuana Eradication Successful in Sonoma

Sonoma County (CA) law enforcement authorities seized 63,000 marijuana plants last month, valued at $1.1 million during a weeklong eradication operation. The county's narcotics task force and state investigators destroyed the plants, which ranged from two to five feet in height, said Sonoma County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Chris Bertoli. Authorities used a helicopter to reach the plants, which were located in rough and steep terrain. At one site, they seized 20 pounds of harvested marijuana that was being dried. The county’s task force has seized 100,000 plants so far this year.

Source: www.signonsandiego.com

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Australia Hosts Economic Summit

This month, the Australian government will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Police aircrews will provide round-the-clock coverage for the leaders' summit as they patrol an air exclusion zone over Sydney, gathering and distributing video intelligence to security authorities. New South Wales Police Force will operate a fleet of five helicopters and three fixed-wing Cessna jets and has trained an extra 44 pilots, engineers and crew for the event, which will see 21 world leaders and their entourages arrive.

Australia’s government has funded the training and the lease of some aircraft with part of the $170 million it has allocated for APEC security planning. The police aviation detachment will be supported by military F/A 18 Hornet aircraft, which will be called on in the unlikely event that a plane has to be shot down. Attorney General Philip Ruddock said, "When you have the leaders of countries like the United States, Russia and Japan all in Australia at one time, it does pose a very significant security issue for law enforcement as well as the Australian people."

Source: www.smh.com.au

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Police Pilots Train Before Starting Unit

The Botswana Police Service in Africa will send 17 officers for flight and related training to various schools in hopes of starting an aviation unit. Ten police officers will receive advanced flight training in the United States and South Africa, while the others will receive initial flight training.

Plans to set up the police air wing have been gaining momentum for the last year and a half when Minister of Defense and Security Phandu Skelemani, under which the Police Service falls, officially announced the initiative. Twenty years ago, Botswana was one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. Today, it is considered the richest non-oil producing country in Africa.

Source: www.mmegi.bw

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Dallas Police Receives Third Aircraft

The Dallas (TX) Police Department took delivery of the last of three helicopters, a Bell 407 model (the other two are Bell 206s). The new aircraft includes the latest technology in flight displays and computer mapping systems that will assist pilots in aerial safety and responding to calls. It also has the technology to help with tactical rescue and recovery operations in the event of a disaster.

Source: www.myfoxdfw.com

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Washington Unit Takes to Air

The Spokane (WA) Sheriff's Office Aviation Support Unit has spent the past year upgrading a surplus Kiowa Scout helicopter and training the volunteer crews that will fly it. ‘Air One’ is loaded with new avionics, spotlight and forward-looking infrared camera. The Aviation Support Unit believes the helicopter will make the Sheriff’s Office more efficient with the help of its eight volunteer pilots who donate their stick time and deputies who will serve as tactical flight officers. The Aviation Support Unit expects to become fully operational by the end of August. After that, it will be on call for major crimes, fires and other emergencies.

Source: www.kxly.com

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Cayman Police Aircraft Arrival

Preparation for the arrival of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) Air Support Unit’s helicopter this month is well underway. The RCIPS Air Support Unit is just one asset included within border protection resources under the RCIPS Strategic Plan for the Cayman Islands. Once operational, the helicopter will serve to support other police resources, including land-based units and the two new water patrol craft currently under construction for the RCIPS Marine Unit.

Commissioner of Police, Stuart Kernohan, confirmed that dedicated air support will greatly boost the RCIPS emergency response capabilities on the Cayman Islands. “In terms of our border security capabilities, which are a top priority for us, it will give us an unsurpassed ability to apprehend criminals both on land and on the water. The RCIPS say they are working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands to ensure that all the safeguards and safety considerations are met.

Source: www.caymannetnews.com

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Australia Cracks Down on Lasing

Last month, officials in Australia passed a law making it illegal to point lasers at an aircraft. More than 170 incidents have been reported since January 2006, and 49 of them occurred between April and June of this year. Previously, state laws have been used to prosecute two people arrested after shining lasers on aircraft in Western Australia and South Australia. In the latter incident, the man was charged with impeding an aircraft after allegedly shining a laser at a police helicopter.

Laser pointers powerful enough to cause eye damage are restricted in Australia, but lax policing and incorrect labeling have meant more powerful lasers are commercially available. Last month's amendments to the Civil Aviation Act, passed by the Senate, provide for a two-year jail term and fines of up to $5,500 to anyone interfering with an aircraft from outside.

Source: www.theage.com.au

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Law Enforcement Getting New Access To Secret Imagery

The Bush administration approved a plan last month to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft. This will give law enforcement officials the ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings.

This program, approved by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security, will allow broader domestic use of secret overhead imagery beginning as early as this fall, with the expectation that state and local law enforcement officials will eventually be able to tap into technology once largely restricted. The program will give domestic security and emergency preparedness agencies new capabilities in dealing with a range of threats, from illegal immigration and terrorism to hurricanes and forest fires.

Under the new program, the DHS will create a subordinate agency to be known as the National Applications Office. The new office is responsible for coordinating requests for access to intelligence.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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State Police Aircraft Hangar Encounters Fire Incident

Officials are investigating what started a fire that destroyed a Connecticut State Police vehicle and damaged other equipment at the agency's aircraft hangar in Hartford. No one was injured, but the hangar and police equipment inside was damaged by fire, smoke and water.

The agency's helicopter, Trooper One, and its three airplanes all were out on assignment, so none were at the airport when the fire occurred. State police say the loss of the burned-up vehicle and damage to other equipment won't hurt their ability to provide services.

Source: www.boston.com

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FLIR Launches New High Performance Thermal Imaging System

The U.S. Coast Guard has selected ESS, a Talon-based multi-sensor thermal imaging system from FLIR Systems, Inc., for installation on its established fleet of airborne law enforcement helicopters. The high-performance ESS will enhance traditional USCG airborne search and rescue, interdiction and AUF missions. The Coast Guard will initially install the advanced 9-inch multi-sensor system on HH-65 Dolphin aircraft with plans to expand the install base to include the HH-60 Jayhawk.

The Talon digital architecture integrates seamlessly with onboard systems like GPS, radar, moving map, digital video recorders, searchlight slaving units and encrypted downlinks and provides even greater functionality to meet emerging high-end law enforcement mission requirements. The introduction of Talon enhances FLIR’s line of dominant gyrostabilized airborne products, complimenting the best selling Ultra 8000 family for airborne law enforcement.

Source: www.flir.com

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Don’t Miss The Central Region Safety Seminar

The Dallas Police Department Aviation Unit, Ft. Worth Police Aviation Unit and the Texas Department of Public Safety invite you to the City of Dallas for ALEA’s Central Region Safety Seminar. It will be held Nov. 5-7, 2007, at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.

Among the educational classes will be Water Survival Training, “Safety First” ALEA Safety Program Update, Law Enforcement Aviation Accident Reviews, In-Flight Emergencies: How to Cope, Biological Rhythms Effect on Alertness & Decision Making, Aviation Weather Safety, Anatomy of an Accident: Hard Lessons Learned, Tactical Communications and Navigation and Ground Threats to Air Units.

Don’t delay in registering. More information is available online or by contacting Region Director Greg Bourland at gbourland@alea.org.

Other regional training scheduled for 2007 includes the Western Region Safety Seminar, September 19-21, and the Canadian Region Safety Seminar, October 24-26.

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For rates and availability, contact:

Jennifer Thornton
ALEA Ad Sales Representative
Ph (918) 274-3874
Fax (918) 274-8450
E-mail: jthornton@alea.org 

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ALEA’s Monthly E-Newsletters are designed to help keep you informed on the very latest information in the airborne law enforcement industry.  Our E-Newsletters are distributed by email, as an additional benefit to our membership. Anyone may join our mailing list.
 

This newsletter is published monthly by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association (ALEA), a public benefit, non-profit California corporation. The ALEA is comprised of air crew and air support personnel in law enforcement and others who support, promote, and advance the safe and effective use of aircraft by law enforcement agencies.

© Copyright 2007 by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this newsletter in whole or in part without written permission from the Editor is prohibited. Product and corporate names mentioned in this newsletter are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ALEA.

Airborne Law Enforcement Association, Inc.
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