On the West coast, a Bakersfield (CA) couple was arrested for shining a laser light into the cockpit of a sheriff's helicopter. They face federal charges of interfering with the safe operation of a Kern County Sheriff's Department helicopter. Authorities said a green laser beam lit up the cockpit of the helicopter and disoriented the pilot. The couple faces the possibility of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Another incident occurred last month when two men were arrested for pointing laser beams at an Orange County Sheriff's Office helicopter. The 52-year-old suspect was booked on charges of discharging a laser at an aircraft, and a second 27-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident. The pilot said he noticed a light being aimed at them from a driveway. No one was injured.

A teenager in California, testing one of his Christmas presents, was arrested for aiming a laser pointer at a jetliner, a commuter bus and a Newport Beach Police Department helicopter. Officers aboard the helicopter traced the laser beam to a Newport Beach home where the 15-year-old Las Vegas boy was staying with relatives.

Based at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, the 407 is packed with state-of-the-art cameras, infrared sensors and communications gear, as well as a powerful gas turbine engine and a four-blade main rotor. The aircraft will be used for patrol duties, to fly in SWAT teams and as a flying “command and control” platform for major incidents. It will also be equipped to make water drops at night, a point of controversy in the wake of the October firestorms.

“It's the same equipment the (San Diego city) fire department is using now, so it gives the county an added capability,” said Lt. R.W. Curry, a pilot who heads ASTREA, the sheriff's aerial unit. “That way, if they're not available for whatever reason, we can fill in for them, and if we're not available, they can fill in for us.”

North Little Rock Police Look At UAVs

The North Little Rock (AR) Police Department is looking at an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a new surveillance tool. The police department may receive federal funds to buy them if the Federal Aviation Administration issues a waiver. The FAA is currently working with police in Houston, TX, Miami, FL, and Sacramento, CA, using those departments as pilot programs to come up with operator training and flight regulations for law enforcement use of UAVs.

The police chief said if the department gets the FAA waivers and other approvals, the city might consider purchasing two gas-powered units at an approximate cost of $130,000 to $150,000 each. The gas units can stay aloft for an hour, can withstand 20 mph winds and can handle light rain better than the electric model. One will be outfitted with a camera with 21x magnification for daytime use and the other will be outfitted with a thermal imaging camera for night use.

Source: www.aero-news.net

HFI and ALEA Extend An Invitation for Popular Aviation Course

Texas DPS to Get $3M Copter

The Texas Department of Public Safety in Amarillo is getting a new $3 million helicopter for law enforcement agencies in the Texas Panhandle to use on a daily basis. The funding was approved during the last legislative session of 2007. Most of the money was appropriated from money seized in drug raids.

New Law Allows Pilots To Fly Longer

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) welcomed legislation signed into law last month by President Bush that allows U.S. commercial pilots to fly until age 65. The determined efforts of Congress have averted a lengthy federal rulemaking process while enabling some of the nation’s most experienced pilots to keep flying. The “Age 60 Rule” had been in effect since 1959.

UK Agencies Consider Sharing Police Copter

The Norfolk and Suffolk Police agencies in the United Kingdom are considering sharing a helicopter in order to save money. Suffolk Police’s helicopter is due to be replaced in 2010, but the force is facing financial cuts over the next three years. One of the options being considered is sharing the helicopter with a neighboring agency, the Norfolk Police. Norfolk Police does not own its own aircraft, but leases two Eurocopters.

Since its launch in October 2000, the Suffolk Police helicopter has been responsible for hundreds of arrests, the recovery of hundreds of thousands of pounds of stolen property, and has located hundreds of missing people. The Norfolk helicopter helped in the arrest of 181 people last year, located 76 missing persons and responded to 910 incidents in the county.

Dutch Police Orders Two AW139 Helicopters

AgustaWestland announced last month that the Netherlands Police Agency has signed a contract for two AW139 medium twin turbine engine helicopters. These two helicopters will be used by the Dutch Police KLPD (Korps landelijke politiediensten) for law enforcement and homeland security purposes.

The AW139 Law Enforcement has the largest cabin in its class with large sliding doors to enable easy and quick access and to perform fast roping. The cabin also allows easy configuration changes to meet operational requirements. The integrated avionic system provides the basis for managing the sensors and comprehensive communications suite required for the law enforcement role. The cockpit is NVG compatible and the aircraft can be equipped with mission equipment like advanced FLIR, weather radar, searchlight and a public address system. /span>

Czech Police to Monitor Drivers from Helicopters

The Czech Republic Civil Police in Prague intend to start monitoring drivers with the help of 14 helicopters beginning in 2008. The air patrols will mainly fly over highways, focusing on overtaking lorries, whose drivers cause a great deal of accidents. The flying police will record the situation on the roads and will be equipped with cameras able to detect the number on the license plates of the vehicles that drive dangerously. The data will be immediately given to the ground police who will subsequently stop the dangerous drivers.

The monitoring of traffic situation from the air is to have a preventive effect. The police have so far used helicopters mainly to search for missing persons or monitoring the situation at demonstrations. Only rarely have helicopters been used to monitor traffic.

Local Departments Utilize State Assets for Aerial Support

Members of the Shelbyville (TN) Police Department, the Bedford County (TN) Sheriff's Department and the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force reviewed the air support offered for free by the U. S. Army and the Tennessee National Guard last month.

The Bell OH-58a Kiowa light reconnaissance helicopter is fitted with the latest in high-tech surveillance systems geared toward helping the fight against drugs. A lieutenant with the Army's Reconnaissance and Aerial Interdiction Detachment, part of the Tennessee National Guard Counter Drug Program, explained the various systems to local police. "The best thing about us is that we're absolutely free," the lieutenant said.

Aside from spotting fields of marijuana from the air, the helicopter is available throughout the year to assist law enforcement with any case that "has a drug nexus," for example, a homicide investigation with a drug connection. Another example would be if police were going to serve a warrant on a high profile criminal who has a drug charge on his record. The helicopter can "fly cover" for the department, utilizing night vision, a GPS, FLIR, regular video and a spotlight. Depending on the situation, the aircraft can be used in emergencies as well, but it can't deviate from the drug nexus unless requested by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA).

County Approves Helicopter Hangar

WWesthampton’s Gabreski Airport will receive an infusion of state and county funds for redevelopment plans that are underway to convert the facility into a homeland security-oriented technology park.

According to County Legislator Jay Schneiderman (R-Montauk), who is a cosponsor of the measure, the legislature voted to accept a New York State Department of Transportation Aviation Bureau grant to construct a new helicopter hangar to house the Suffolk County Police Aviation Department’s east end operations. The 16-hour-per-day base presently operates out of a leased hangar space at Gabreski, and the police unit shares the space with non-governmental, non-law enforcement aircraft.

Brazil Equips Aircraft With Fire Power

The violent activities of Rio de Janeiro's drug lords over the last two years have spurred law enforcement to expand its helicopter fleet with the acquisition of an armored and armed $4.5M Bell Huey II. Two more aircraft are planned in the next year.

Two of the six Helibras/Eurocopter AS350 B helicopters operated by the city's law enforcement agencies currently have been configured into gunships in response to a growing ground fire threat while performing support to counter-narcotics operations in the city's slums. Even with the protection of Kevlar armor on the engine bay, side doors and cockpit area and a bungee-mounted light machine-gun, the aircraft is now deemed inadequate for the typical missions now flown on an almost daily basis.

It's not unusual for criminal gangs to shoot at police helicopters in Rio de Janeiro, one of the most violent cities in the world. In fact, authorities report that one of the helicopters that was to transport a Santa Claus to distribute gifts at a Christmas party last month came under fire when it flew over a Rio shantytown. Two rifle shots hit the chopper in that incident, but no one was hurt.

Bell Aerospace Services in Ozark, Alabama is equipping the first Huey II for service with delivery expected this month.

Spanish Agency Adds Fixed-Wing To Fleet

IIn December, the Interior Ministry ordered two EADS CASA CN-235 aircraft in maritime patrol configuration for operation by the Servicio Aéreo de la Guardia Civil. These twin-engine turboprops will be the first fixed-wing aircraft to serve with the helicopter forces. One aircraft will be based in the Canary Islands and the other one in the south of the Spanish peninsula, and will be performing missions against drug trafficking, illegal immigration, border patrol missions, maritime search and rescue, etc.

The first CN-235 will be delivered mid-2008 and the second one in the spring 2009. Both will include FLIR and a fully integrated tactical system./p>

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