Public safety and emergency response situations require decision makers at command and control centers and on-scene commanders to:

• quickly assess a situation outside their immediate surroundings;
• efficiently deploy and control resources with minimum risk to personnel;
• effectively make on-the-spot decisions.

These situations can be quite complex, and an aerial view can be extremely helpful in assessing what's occurring on the ground.    

We've all seen exciting scenes in the movies of sleek black helicopters dashing in to intercept a band of fleeing crooks. Or perhaps it was a multi-million dollar jet bristling with antennae and sophisticated (read expensive) equipment tracking drug smugglers. These are often the images that come to mind when one thinks about the use of aviation in law enforcement (LE) scenarios. 

Tracking an individual and his vehicle

In reality, the use of aircraft for practical airborne LE support need not be so sexy or high profile.

The fact is the vast majority of LE organizations throughout the country have little or no access to airborne support  due to the traditionally high cost of airborne asset acquisition and operations.  

That is, until recently.   

ASSIST-U.S. Aerial Response for Law Enforcement

A recent ASSIST-U.S.® operation with various law enforcement organizations in New England highlights how powerful and effective a tool airborne surveillance can be. In this case, an ASSIST-U.S.® air crew was asked to help search for an escapee from a New Hampshire county correctional facility. One report indicated that the individual might seek refuge in rural Maine, possibly in a remote cabin known to have been used by the escapee in the past.

On its face, this might seem an easy lead for local law enforcement to follow up. However, the specific location of the cabin was the critical piece of information that law enforcement lacked. The information available at the time gave only a general area of interest, which left those searching for the escapee no choice but to hope additional information would become available soon. This is a specific example of when a trained air crew collaborating with law enforcement personnel can become a significant force multiplier.   

Read about the search and watch our aircraft here (@ 2:05 minutes in) as it was briefly caught on video by a local Boston TV news station during the search. [Source: NECN Boston Channel 6] 

How the search unfolded

After picking up a local law enforcement officer (LEO) at a nearby New Hampshire airport, the ASSIST-U.S.® crew began searching for the cabin, using as a starting point the general location information and a description of a vehicle allegedly used by the escapee.  

NOTE: Since ASSIST-U.S.® air crews are able to remain in constant contact with our Operations Center, the Ops team can pass on any new information to the crew in real time. The same is also true in reverse: the air crew can also pass updates and special points of interest back to the Op Center team. This arrangement creates a structured conduit through which information can be exchanged in real time between LE units on the ground and the air crew overhead.

The ASSIST-U.S.® air crew quickly identified a remote cabin with a vehicle matching the description. When a lone individual was observed briefly outside the cabin, the air crew informed Operations of their observations, and the Operations specialist passed the information on to local law enforcement in the field. Unfortunately for those ground units, no line of sight existed on the cabin, which was located well off the main road. With only a narrow winding dirt road leading into the cabin, ground units could not be sure what they might encounter upon entering the cabin's area. This is precisely the type of situation where an aviation surveillance platform can quickly change the intelligence picture.

Within 15 minutes, the air crew had directed ground units to the correct road and provided comprehensive intelligence about the drive into the property, the cabin, other points of access or escape, vehicles, as well as available observations of the person moving about the cabin. In this case, given the fluid and fast pace of the event, the ASSIST-U.S.® Operations Center specialist performed the guidance that coordinated activities between the air and ground units. In some situations, it would be even more effective to stream live video of the area of interest from the aircraft's sensor to the LE units on the ground.

Once the ground units were staged and briefed on the operation, they proceeded to the cabin and quickly and uneventfully took the occupant into custody. In a few moments, officers determined that the occupant was not the escapee and that the person had no information on the whereabouts of the fugitive. In total, less than 40 minutes transpired from the time the air crew first observed the cabin to the departure of the ground units.  

Disappointment could be one's initial reaction to how the search ended because the fugitive was not discovered and taken into custody (he was  captured successfully later on). However, there are successes to be found in this story.    

• Considering the best information available at the time, law enforcement had a reasonable belief that the fugitive might be in the area. Given the rural nature of the location, sending patrols up every driveway and back road would have been time consuming and potentially dangerous.    
• An aircraft can cover a great deal of ground in a short time, thereby allowing ground units to concentrate on other areas of concern. In this case, when the air crew found a potential candidate for the hideout, it gave ground personnel time to consider the situation and gather additional information before exposing themselves or the public to danger. Remember, while the ground units are staging out of sight, the air crew is keeping the suspect properly under continuous surveillance, unobservable from its stand off distance of at least a mile away. Any changes would immediately be reported, ensuring the LEOs would be working with fresh intelligence.    
• Finally, the air crew covered miles of territory that day and was able to clearly determine where the fugitive was not. Again, this gives ground units the ability to concentrate their focus in other areas and seek out new leads.

Right Whales Playing

Aviation is simply another tool available to homeland security and law enforcement leaders (and others in related fields). When deployed in a thoughtful and coordinated way, the use of state-of-the-art, aerial full motion video, still imagery and wireless data communications solutions can provide your organizations with a host of benefits.  

These aerial assets enable law enforcement decision makers and incident commanders to better serve the needs of their communities by:

• realizing cost savings in the deployment of manpower;
• achieving more efficient consumption of resources;
• improving personnel and public safety in critical situations.   

ASSIST-U.S.® has been working with a number of New England-based law enforcement organizations over the past 18 months, from municipal to Federal levels.

• The fugitive search required us to coordinate not only with local LEOs and the state police but also with federal marshals, since it was believed that the escapee had crossed state lines from New Hampshire into Maine.
• Also in 2011, we worked with a NH-based special operations unit to assist in a homeland security training drill. Our role was to demonstrate how full motion streaming video from our aerial assets could give a more complete common operating picture of the events on the ground to the team monitoring and guiding the drill in the command center, which involved local, state and federal resources.
• During Motorcycle Week in Laconia, NH, and surrounding towns last summer, we flew missions to support the Laconia Police Department, helping them maintain their vigilance over activities in multiple areas, from motorcycle parades to significant gatherings of participants outside bars, clubs and recreation areas.

Schedule Your Aerial Data Acquisition Mission Today

ASSIST-U.S.® airborne resources provide a cost-effective aerial data acquisition (ADA) capability to supplement scarce and costlier government resources that are not always reliably available on demand.     

In fact, we offer several different law enforcement "packages," based on the nature of the requirements and the type of organization (municipal, county, special operations, statewide). For cash-strapped organizations, funding from DHS grants is often available for different components of our service.    

To recap: our ADA services and capabilities are designed to:

• supplement your existing resources and effectively support your efforts so you can resolve incidents as quickly and efficiently as possible;  
• provide a comprehensive, three-dimensional perspective upon which to base your actions. 

We continue to refine our service and solutions for homeland security, law enforcement and emergency response organizations to help you better serve your own communities when a timely and efficient response to public safety and emergency situations is essential.

If your organization is interested in scheduling a pilot demonstration or any of our standard aerial data acquisition services, please contact:  

• Rick Bartle, Director of Aviation Operations: 603-219-0922, X104 or
• Brian Blake, Sales Director: 603-219-0922, X116