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APSA's E-Newsletter is designed to help keep you informed on the very latest information in the airborne law enforcement industry. The E-Newsletter may also be read online here at our website. Task Force and Police Eradicate Large Grow
“It's definitely one of the larger operations of the year,” said a Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman. “It's a sophisticated grow, a very large grow.” The plants were ready for harvest. Police loaded bundles of plants into cargo nets that were flown by sheriff's helicopter crews to three pickups. Sheriff's pilot Sgt. Jon Shellhammer and pilot Sgt. Mark Johnston said they made probably 20 trips back and forth hauling loads of marijuana weighing 300 to 500 pounds to the pickups. So far this year, the task force has seized more than 115,000 marijuana plants worth more than $462 million. The task force's seizures have averaged about 325,000 plants per year for the past 15 years. SOURCE: www.signonsandiego.com Camera Falls Off Helicopter
Officers from the Columbus Police Division's Helicopter Unit had just taken off from the police heliport to assist in searching for a missing woman when the camera fell. The heat-detecting camera recently had been returned from maintenance and reinstalled. The division owns two cameras and routinely switches them among the six helicopters in the fleet. It's not clear why the camera came unhitched. SOURCE: www.dispatch.com LASD Hosts Dhabi Aircrew For Tour
SOURCE: Police Aviation News Crew Welcomes Children To Aviation Unit
They spent the morning with India 99, the force's helicopter, and with the air support staff who fly it. “You could tell from the children's faces that they really enjoyed the visits. It has opened their eyes to the different roles that police play and also the different modes of transport they use to get out and about and perform their day-to-day duties,” said Wild. SOURCE: www.rochdaleonline.co.uk Largest Pot Bust Since Bureau Began
Due to the size of the grow site, authorities chose to burn the plants in the outdoor area where they were found. Sheriff Henderson said the property owners were not suspects. SOURCE: www.wsaz.com Dallas PD Upgrades Two Aircraft
The upgrades include BMS digital video microwave systems for both aircraft, upgrade of existing L-3 Wescam camera systems and auto-tracking, Avalex digital video recorder upgrades, and AFS engine inlet barrier filters. The installation of the downlink systems will provide real-time images to command staff, improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of critical incident management operations. These upgrades were made possible by a federal grant that was recently awarded to the police department. SOURCE: United Rotorcraft Solutions Terrain Safety System Improves Alerts
Far exceeding the requirements of FAA's Technical Standard Order (TSO) C194, HeliTAWS is a ruggedized, self-contained system with a high-resolution display that retrofits by removing and replacing an existing radar altimeter indicator. The system is completely automatic and does not require pilot management of the phase of flight. “We wanted to develop a breakthrough that would significantly raise the bar on HTAWS performance and expectations,” said Gerry Block, Sandel's president. “The universal complaint with all existing systems is that during the performance of normal helicopter missions, the pilot gets unnecessary and distracting nuisance alerts. In contrast, HeliTAWS completely eliminates nuisance alerts,” he noted. Source: Sandel Avionics Congress Strengthens Border Security U.S. Representative Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Texas) was happy about the passage of the 2010 Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Bill last month. The bill provides $600 million in funds to help protect the U.S.-Mexico border by strengthening border security and enforcement efforts along the Southwest border. Ortiz is a co-sponsor of this bill. “We have approved much-needed funding so we can provide our border patrol agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers with what they need to secure the border,” Ortiz said. As violence continues in Mexico, Ortiz said the country cannot hesitate in the ability to detect, deter and disrupt the illegal activity that seeks to infiltrate the border. To view where the funding will go, visithttp://appropriations.house.gov/images/stories/pdf/dhs/Appropriations_Fact_Sheet_-_Border_Security_Supplemental.pdf. Source: www.texasinsider.org Video Equipment Approved For LASD
Sheriff Lee Baca says the high-definition, long-range video could help authorities handle protests and disasters and track violent criminals. Images also will be shared with county firefighters. Baca says a live video feed could have helped provide an aerial view during June's rioting after the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship and last year's massive Station Fire that destroyed 89 homes. Source: www.mercurynews.com Arrest Made For Canadian Lasing Incident
For the next 30 minutes, the crew searched the immediate area, trying to locate the source of the light and the offender responsible for directing it. While searching, the crew was lased at least two additional times. Police did determine where the laser beam was coming from and arrested a 34-year-old man and recovered a Class B laser. SOURCE: www.ctv.ca RAVEN Agency Mourns Loss of Crewmember
Delaney never released an aircraft that was unsafe for his brothers or sisters to fly. He was the best at what he did. Known worldwide within the Army aviation community as one of the best Maintenance Test Flight Examiner's, Delaney came to the Washoe County Sheriff's Office nearly 10 years ago, bringing with him a host of skills and knowledge that have become the foundation of the Regional Aviation Enforcement (RAVEN) Program. His professionalism and technical acumen have been the hallmark of RAVEN and will continue to have long lasting impacts in the future. He leaves behind his wife Shelley, six children, and one grandchild. He will be sorely missed. SOURCE: Washoe County Sheriff's Office. Photo courtesy of Mike Goo. Large Marijuana Raid in Utah
The agencies involved included the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, Utah Department of Public Safety and DPS Air Bureau, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Brian Head Police Department, Kane County Sheriff's Office, Iron County Sheriff's Office, Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Cedar City Police Department, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Central Utah Narcotics Task Force, Iron-Garfield Narcotics Task Force, Utah National Guard and National Guard Blackhawk helicopter and the Drug Enforcement Administration. SOURCE: www.kcsg.com
 Advertisement Man Who Shone Laser Enters Plea Agreement
Free on $60,000 bail, the man pleaded guilty to one count of willfully interfering with the authorized operation of an aircraft. He had also been charged with attempted interference of the authorized operation of an aircraft, but that count was dropped under the plea deal reached last month. The maximum penalty for the one charge is 20 years in prison, but the U.S. Attorney's Office is seeking no more than 3.5 years. During an interview with FBI agents in January, "The defendant admitted that he pointed a green laser at the helicopter, which he knew was a police helicopter. He acted with reckless disregard for the safety of human life,” according to the plea agreement. SOURCE: www.kpsplocal2.com
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Helicopter pilots with the San Diego County (CA) Sheriff's Department Aerial Support Detail ferried load after load of marijuana from a remote hilltop, where the San Diego County Integrated Narcotics Task Force agents found an estimated 25,000 plants. The street value of the bust is estimated at $75-$100 million and believed to have been run by Mexican drug traffickers.
Local police and Federal Aviation Administration investigators are trying to determine whether human or mechanical error was to blame when a camera fell from a police helicopter last month and damaged six parked cars in Columbus, Ohio. No one was injured.
In June, members of the Abu Dhabi Police Air Wing, led by Brigadier General Ali Al Mazroui, visited the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) at the invitation of Sheriff Leroy D. Baca. The delegation visited the Emergency Operations Bureau (EOB), SWAT and the Aero Bureau. Three hours flying over the City of Los Angeles gave the group great insight into how the communications center, ground units and the aircraft all work together to respond to actual tasks and routine patrols. The trip ended with a two-hour meeting with Sheriff Baca, who is heavily involved in international outreach programs to law enforcement agencies around the world. 
School children were able to spend the day with Greater Manchester (UK) Police's Air Support Unit last month, learning how the helicopter flies and how it helps in the fight against crime. The children from three different schools visited unit pilots David Wild, Bill Walsh and Dominique Grimes.
Last month, Pike County (OH) Sheriff Richard Henderson said that 22,000 marijuana plants were found during an eradication operation. Investigators made the discovery during a routine helicopter search of the area. Special Agent Supervisor Scott Duff with the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation calls the bust "amazing, just huge." It's one of the largest since the bureau launched a marijuana eradication effort two decades ago.
United Rotorcraft Solutions was awarded a bid to upgrade two Dallas (TX) Police Department Helicopter Unit's aircraft. The first Bell 206B3 helicopter is to be delivered early this month.
Sandel Avionics received TSO approval for its HeliTAWS helicopter terrain safety system last month, which adds Sandel's proprietary TrueAlert™ nuisance-alert elimination technology, off-airport landing capability and high-resolution 3-D terrain display capabilities to basic Class A HTAWS functions. The result is that HeliTAWS is expected to significantly increase the safety of such demanding helicopter missions as airborne law enforcement.
The Los Angeles County (CA) Sheriff's Department is getting a new eye in the sky to help fight crime and wildfires. The Board of Supervisors approved last month for the county to spend $2.6 million to buy video equipment that can transmit real-time images from aircraft cameras to patrol cars. Two airplanes, a helicopter and four sheriff's vehicles will get the gear.
An aircrew of Calgary's police helicopter was momentarily blinded when a laser pointer was aimed at their aircraft last month. The incident happened while the HAWC1 helicopter was being used to assist officers on the ground. The pilot was forced to take evasive action to avoid further direct lasing from the light source. As a precaution, officials at Calgary's airport temporarily closed one runway to prevent commercial aircraft from being targeted with the beam. 
Deputy Thomas Delaney of the Washoe County (NV) Sheriff's Office lost a brief but courageous battle with cancer on September 1, 2010. Delaney was a life long public servant, beginning his service in the U.S. Army 28 years ago as an Army aviator. He achieved the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) and was qualified to fly the CH-47D Chinook, UH-60 Blackhawk/Firehawk, UH-1 Huey, OH-58 Kiowa, and was a maintenance test pilot in all of those airframes. Additionally, he was a Certified A & P mechanic as well as a Certified Flight Instructor. 
Approximately 17,000 marijuana plants were confiscated last month in what's called the largest marijuana farm bust yet in Utah this year. Found near Boulder, each plant has a street value of at least $1,000, so the total net street value is estimated at $17 million. The marijuana was hauled out by the Utah Highway Patrol helicopter and burned at a dumpsite.
Milestone Reached By Humberside Police
A 19-year-old California man has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, admitting his guilt for flashing a laser beam into the cockpit of a California Highway Patrol helicopter last June.
APSA Canadian Safety Seminar
October 13-15, 2010, the York Regional Police will host the 2010 APSA Canadian Region Safety Seminar in Richmond Hill, Ontario. A discounted hotel rate at the Sheraton Park Toronto Hotel is available at $139 per night until October 1. Register for the educational safety seminar now at
