Vehicle Pursuits and Police Helicopters
The FBI's line-of-duty death statistics for police officers in the United States in the previous few years are indeed sobering. Unfortunately, the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths continues to be vehicle accidents. As we collectively reduce the number of officers killed in a felony situation, accidents continue to rise. There is no doubt that vehicle pursuits must be considered extremely high risk and the potential for injury and/or death is high. If an agency has a helicopter asset, this risk can be dramatically reduced.
The Pursuit Dilemma
It is no secret that all law enforcement agencies are under tremendous pressure to reduce crime. In this age of computerized statistics, all agencies are under a media microscope and the reduction crime is constantly measured, in some cases on a daily basis. Right or wrong, many mayors, city managers and city councils in large part measure the effectiveness of their police force on this statistic. On the other hand, there has been increasing pressure on law enforcement agencies to better manage and control vehicle pursuits. In several high profile cases, the responding agency faced huge civil suits and negative publicity when a vehicle pursuit caused a death or injury to a third party. In this confusing landscape, some agencies have "eliminated" pursuits, some agencies have place severe and often impractical limitations while some agencies have not changed their pursuit policies at all. Therein lies the dilemma: If we don't chase, word spreads quickly and the bad guys will simply run, if we do chase, we are sometimes exposing ourselves to civil liability and both police officers and the public to the danger of being killed or injured.
The Safe Solution
If an agency has the resource of a helicopter, they can address both sides of the issue. They can still pursue, albeit much safer, and also lessen the risk to ground officers and the public by using a helicopter. Once on scene, the helicopter can provide command and control duties, providing ground units with the vehicle location and direction. When the helicopter arrives, the ground units can then "loosely follow" the subject vehicle and literally "round up" the suspect. In most cases, the driver of the vehicle lives locally and is familiar with the local area. They do not want to leave their city or town and venture to unknown neighborhoods. Their goal is to shake the pursuing vehicles and then quietly park or abandon their vehicle and return home. If the helicopter arrives and the suspect does not know it is above, the suspect will often resume normal driving when the pursuing ground units back off. The perfect scenario is that ground units back off, the suspect drives normally and the helicopter discreetly follows until the vehicle parks and the ground units move in quickly, apprehending the suspect. Safe and effective.
The Pursuit
When a helicopter is involved in the pursuit, what can ground units expect? Fortunately, the past few years has seen an enormous increase in the installation of computerized maps in airborne law enforcement aircraft. Utilizing the power of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), these airborne maps give the flight crews a tremendous advantage in situational awareness. In the past, given the speed and distance involved in some pursuits, the flight crews did not know the names of every street causing confusion and frustration for both flight crews and ground personnel. The introduction of these moving maps gives the flight crew precise information as to the street or road a particular vehicle is traveling. It is important that the helicopter be included in the agencies pursuit policy. For example, if a ground supervisor "terminates" the pursuit, should the helicopter continue to follow or should they also terminate their pursuit. Many airborne units "track" the wanted vehicle with their spotlight. This might be good for pursuing ground units because they see where the pursuit is but it also reveals to the suspect that a helicopter is involved. Hopefully, the suspect will recognize the futility in running and simply surrender (it has happened) but it sometimes causes them to drive faster. Another option for the flight crew is to track the vehicle using their thermal imager. This allows them to discreetly track and perhaps record the pursuit for evidence purposes. What better way to demonstrate the reckless actions of a person than to show them in living color.
In the past airborne law enforcement units have "cleared" intersections for pursuing police vehicles. The indication that the intersection is "clear" means it is safe for the responding police vehicle. In theory, this seems like an excellent and safe procedure. In practice, there are simply too many threats at an intersection for an airborne unit to see. These threats include not only vehicles, but pedestrians and environmental factors, such as sand, oil, gravel etc. It is recommended that airborne units do not "clear" intersections and allow the ground units to perform their own risk assessments. This does not mean that an airborne unit cannot advise ground units of an obvious threat. For example, the airborne unit sees a crowded playground at a corner as the responding police units approach at a high rate of speed. The airborne unit can transmit this information so that the ground units can adjust their tactics accordingly. An airborne law enforcement unit will always conduct these missions with the highest regard towards safety. Sometimes, particularly in an urban environment, this means intense coordination with air traffic control and flying in very busy airspace. If the pursuit will compromise air safety (i.e. collision possibility etc.) the flight crew will terminate the pursuit. It should be noted that most air traffic control facilities are very good about holding and/or diverting airborne traffic and clearing the path for the pursuing helicopter. Unfortunately, the very dynamic nature of these pursuits sometimes mean conflict and flight safety MUST be the priority.
The Benefits
The benefits of actively using a helicopter are obvious. Safety for all parties concerned is of course the greatest benefit. In addition, a pursuit policy using helicopters shows agencies concern to safely and effectively manage these high risk incidents. In addition, it sends a strong message to the bad guys that they will be pursued and more importantly that they will be caught. A solution for all that is safe and effective. What can be better than that?
