Police aviation
Police aviation is the use of aircraft in police operations. Police services commonly use aircraft for traffic control, ground support, search and rescue, high-speed car pursuits, observation, air patrol and control of large-scale public events and/or public order incidents. They may employ rotary-wing aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft, nonrigid-wing aircraft or lighter-than-air aircraft. In some major cities, police rotary-wing aircraft are also used as air transportation for personnel belonging to SWAT-style units. In large, sparsely populated areas, fixed-wing aircraft are sometimes used to transport personnel and equipment.
History
The first police aviation department was established in New York City.[1] Fixed-wing aircraft have generally been replaced by more versatile rotary-wing aircraft since the late 1940s. However, fixed-wing aircraft are still used in some missions, such as border patrol, as their higher speed and greater operating altitude allow larger areas to be covered.[1]
In 1921, the British airship R33 was used to help the police with traffic control around horse racing events at Epsom and Ascot.[2]
A large mural on the side of St. George's Town Hall in the East End of London depicting the 1936 Battle of Cable Street public order incident includes the police autogyro,[3] that was present during the incident, overhead.[4][5]
Rotary-wing aircraft
The most common form of police rotary-wing aircraft is the helicopter, but other types of rotary-wing aircraft such as autogyros are also used.[6][7][8] The Groen Hawk 4 autogyro was used during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.[9]
Police rotary-wing aircraft are sometimes equipped to perform multiple functions, or are designed so that equipment can be changed quickly when required for divergent roles. For example, a rotary-wing aircraft could be used for search-and-rescue, and then as an air ambulance.[10]
Police forces sometimes use military surplus rotary-wing aircraft, such as the Bell UH-1 Huey.[11] Some policing organisations, such as the Policía Federal in Mexico, acquire new military rotary-wing aircraft such as the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.[12] However, most buy civilian rotary-wing aircraft directly from major aircraft companies[13] or lease them from specialty suppliers.[14]
The use of police helicopters by the Los Angeles Police Department has been criticized for causing excessive noise and pollution and harming the well-being of community members.[15]
Fixed-wing and nonrigid-wing aircraft
Some police air units also use fixed-wing aircraft, which allow higher and quieter surveillance,[1] making it less likely that suspects will become aware they are being watched. A few police air units, such as the Northern Territory Police in Australia, use only fixed-wing aircraft.[16][17] The use of fixed-wing aircraft also allows for longer flying times and incurs lower running costs.[18] Fixed-wing aircraft are also used to transport prisoners,[1] with the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (nicknamed "Con Air")[19] perhaps being the largest example of this use. Fixed-wing aircraft are also used to provide regular police patrols in remote communities and to transport investigators to remote crime scenes.[17][18] Light-sport aircraft[20] and powered parachutes[21][22][23] can sometimes be used to provide a cost-effective replacement for helicopters in the observation platform role.
The Edgley Optica was a British fixed-wing aircraft built for observation use and was used by the Hampshire Constabulary[24] as an alternative to rotary-wing aircraft.[25] The Britten-Norman Defender is used by the Greater Manchester Police,[26] the Police Service of Northern Ireland[27] and the Garda Síochána.[26] The FBI deployed one Britten-Norman Defender for electronic aerial surveillance at the Branch Davidian compound during the Waco siege in 1993.[28] In Greater London, the Metropolitan Police Service has, for a number of years, reportedly been secretly using Cessna aircraft that have been fitted with surveillance equipment capable of intercepting mobile telephone calls and listening in on conversations.[29]
Lighter-than-air aircraft
Police blimps were used to patrol the sky during the 2004 Republican National Convention,[30] the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.[31] The blimp Santos-Dumont, named for Alberto Santos-Dumont, operates in the Caribbean for the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad & Tobago (SAUTT), providing security surveillance. During April 2009, this blimp provided aerial surveillance of the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain.[32] Greater Manchester Police began trial operations of a blimp in 2010 to provide surveillance for major events, which would be a cheaper alternative to the use of a helicopter in the long term. However, the blimp was only used on 18 occasions because of weather-related operational problems.[33]
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Police in some areas have started using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, for surveillance operations.[34][35] Unmanned aerial vehicles come in both fixed-wing and rotary-wing types.
List of police aviation units
- Queensland Police Service[36] (operated through Surf Life Saving Queensland Aviation)
- Western Australia Police Air Wing[37]
- New South Wales Police Force
- Victoria Police Air Wing
- Westpac Rescue Helicopter Tasmania
- South Australia Police
- National Police Air Service
- Police Scotland Air Support Unit [citation needed]
- Police Service of Northern Ireland Air Support Unit
United States
Many local, state, and federal US law enforcement agencies operate helicopters, and some operate fixed-wing aircraft.
- Federal agencies
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Denver Police Department helicopter[44][45]
- Connecticut
- Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit - Aviation Section
- New Milford Police Aviation Unit[46]
- Delaware
- Delaware State Police Aviation Section[47]
- District of Columbia
- Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit[48]
- Florida
- Marion County Sheriff Aviation Unit - at least four helicopters[49]
- Maine
- Maine Forest Service - Forest Protection Aviation Branch[50]
- Maine Marine Patrol[51]
- Maine State Police Air Wing[52]
- Maine Warden Service Aviation Division[53]
- Maryland
- Maryland State Police Aviation Command
- Anne Arundel County Police Aviation Unit[54]
- Baltimore Police Aviation Unit[55]
- Baltimore County Police Department: 3 AS350B3 helicopters[56]
- Prince George's County Police Aviation Section[57]
- Massachusetts
- Massachusetts State Police Air Wing[58]
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Hampshire State Police Special Enforcement Unit (SEU)[60]
- New York
- Erie County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit[61]
- NYPD Aviation Unit
- New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police Aviation Unit
- New York State Police Aviation Unit
- Nassau County Police Department Aviation
- Onondaga County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit[62]
- Westchester County Police Aviation Unit[63]
- North Carolina
- North Carolina Marine Patrol Aviation
- Oregon
- Clackamas County Sheriff Air Support Unit - one Cessna 182[64]
- Portland Police Air Support Unit[65]
- Washington County (Oregon) Police Air Support Unit - a single Cessna R172, N575RW
- Oregon State Police Aviation Unit - four fixed-wing Cessnas[66]
- Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Emergency and Special Operations Aviation Units[67]
- Philadelphia Police Aviation Unit[68]
- Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico Joint Forces of Rapid Action
- Puerto Rico Natural Resources Ranger Corps Aerial Patrol[69]
South Dakota
- South Dakota Highway Patrol Aviation Unit - One Cessna T206[70]
- Utah
- Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau (helicopters)[71]
- Virginia
- Virginia State Police 3 airplanes, 7 helicopters[72]
- Fairfax County Police Department Helicopter Division (two helicopters)[73]
- Henrico County Metro Aviation Unit[74]
- Virginia Beach Police Department Special Operations Aviation Unit[75]
- Washington
- King County Sheriff's Office Air Support (three helicopters)[76][77]
- Pierce County Sheriff's Department Air Operations - two Cessna 206s[78]
- Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Air Support[79]
- Spokane County Sheriff's Office (three helicopters)[80]
- Washington State Patrol: Special Operations Division: Aviation Section[81]
- West Virginia
- West Virginia State Police Aviation Section[82]
- Wisconsin
- Wisconsin State Patrol Air Support Unit[83]
Disbanded police aviation units
Border guards and customs services
Maritime law enforcement agencies
See also
References
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- ^ Museum staff (October 4, 2011). "How the East was won". The working life of Museum of London. Museum of London. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
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- ^ "Police Aviation News February 2011 p2" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ a b "Pilatus Aircraft Enthusiasts - NT Police". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ a b "Airplanes are still a vital tool in law enforcement". Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ "Con Air: America's High-Flying Paddy Wagon". Usmarshals.gov. 2004-06-03. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ Paur, Jason (2011-09-08). "California Sheriff Adds Light Sport Airplane To Fleet - Autopia - Wired.com". Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ "Powered Parachute". Riponpd.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
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- ^ "Powered Parachute takes crime-fighting to new heights". Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ^ "No cause found for Optica crash". Flight International. 30 August 1986. p. 54. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ "About the Hampshire Police Air Support Unit at Lee on Solent". Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ "UK Emergency Aviation - UK & Ireland Police Helicopter Operations N-Z". Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ FBI brings out secret electronics weapons as Waco siege drags on, by James Adams. The Sunday Times, p. 23, 21 March 1993
- ^ Lewis, Jason; Blackmore, Andy (2011-10-29). "Met Police spends millions of pounds on secret aircraft". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ "Authorities are planning to employ a corporate blimp as an alternative intelligence gathering tool during next week's Republican National Convention in New York City". CNN. 2004-08-30. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ Lowry, N (June 2004), "Benign eye in the sky", Lloyd's List Magazine, pp. 29–33
- ^ Chamoff, L (April 17, 2009), "Greenwich Firm's Blimp to Keep Eye on Summit in Trinidad", Stamford Advocate / Greenwich Time
- ^ "GMP's £80,000 police spy blimp is grounded - by the Manchester weather". Manchester Evening News. 11 November 2010.
- ^ "New Police Drone Near Houston Could Carry Weapons". Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ Bennett, Brian (2011-12-10). "Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ "POLAIR - News, videos and community information from the Queensland Police Service Polair unit". POLAIR. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
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- ^ Andrew Kenney (7 August 2018). "Denver police are trading their helicopter for a new $5 million chopper". Denverite. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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The newest addition to the LVMPD aircraft fleet is an Airbus H145, making the department the first law enforcement agency in the continental US to operate the type
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Utah Highway Patrol's Aero Bureau
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The Special Operations Division is comprised of the Aviation Section and the Executive Services Section. The Division also oversees the Awards Committee.
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External links
- Atlanta’s bombing fallout (Law Enforcement News)
- Aviation Units in Large Law Enforcement Agencies Bureau of Justice Statistics
- Blimp to provide convention coverage for police (CNN)
- Defender BN2T-4S operated by Irish Air Corps for Gardai (Irish police force)
- Police Aviation News
- UK Police Air Support Information & Operational Info + Gallery