Recently, a major east coast city was having tremendous success in apprehending car thieves. This success included an almost 100% apprehension rate when the city's aviation unit (helicopters) became involved. It seemed that once the car thieves knew the police helicopter was above them, they would adjust their tactics accordingly. Instead of trying to outrun the ground units in their stolen vehicle, they try to get rid of the car and proceed on foot. The aviation unit officers began to informally de-brief the bad guys and their arresting officers for any insights on what the bad guys know and do.
It appears as though success breeds more success and the story told by the bad guy to his friends, peers and associates is almost always much more dramatic and complicated than the truth. For example, one bad guy told his buddies they chased him for over an hour in the helicopter and he couldn't shake them. In fact, the pursuit was approximately 5-7 minutes.
One bad guy, whom we will call Tom, was in a particularly talkative mood. Tom spoke of the bad guys changing tactics. "We used to try and get to the highway because we know they don't like chasing us out of the city, but if the helicopter is there, we can't get away" says Tom. It seems that Tom and his buddies have discussed the problem and have come up with a solution. "If the helicopter is above, we try and lose the ground cops and then ditch the car as fast as possible. It means losing the car but we get away. We try and do it in a crowded area where we know the people and the place. Somewhere we are comfortable." Their tactic is to run into a building or get lost in the crowd on foot hoping that when the airborne unit directs the ground officers to their location, they will have made their escape.
Somewhere they feel comfortable is usually their own neighborhood. Ground units directing and or supervising a pursuit should send a few units to these target rich locations. Most officers know where the usual suspects live and play so a strategically placed ground unit might be able to head them off at these locations. Tom continues, "Oh yeah, if the helicopter is above when we jump out we all run in different directions because they can only stay with one of us." Fortunately, Tom is wrong. Many times airborne units can and have tracked multiple suspects. In fact, the San Diego Police Aviation Unit successfully tracked four suspects that had bailed out of their car and fled on foot in different directions. The officers were able to direct ground officers to all four suspects and recover weapons. This particular pursuit was recorded and won an award at the Airborne Law Enforcement Association Annual Conference last July in Houston, Texas.
Another change for the bad guys is during foot pursuits. Bad guys do talk tactics and they do watch television shows such as Cops and adjust their behavior accordingly. Many suspects know the helicopter is equipped with FLIR and many crews have night vision goggles. The new tactic is to hide or go to ground. Ground units should note the arrival of their airborne counterparts and realize that in many cases, the suspect will stop running. If the suspect was just seen in a rear yard and the helicopter thunders overhead, it is likely the suspect is very close and hiding in or near that yard. It does not matter if in fact the airborne crew actively sees the suspect. They simply try and hide.
If an aviation unit calls the pursuit, ground units can loosely and safely follow the car. The ground unit should be prepared for a bail out and be ready to move in quickly for an apprehension.
What we should all remember is that bad guys go to movies, watch television and use the internet. In many cases they are very well versed in our equipment, procedures and tactics. The gather their own intelligence and will change their behavior based on what they believe are our capabilities. However, they can outsmart themselves. Recently, two suspects were chased into a backyard by ground units after a vehicle pursuit. Although a good perimeter was quickly established, a very thorough ground search could not locate the subjects. As the ground supervisor was just about to release the perimeter, dispatch received a cell phone call reporting that the suspects had stolen a car and fled onto a nearby parkway. The only problem? Dispatch was able to trace the location of the call and it was inside the perimeter! Another search was commenced and the suspects were caught on the second go-around.
Aviation assets can give the ground officer a tremendous advantage; the bad guys realize this and will change their tactics to lessen this advantage. We should always take the opportunity to learn what these changes mean for us in law enforcement.
