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Helicopters watch over local law enforcement
| Friday, Aug 15 2008 7:38 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Aug 18 2008 1:37 PM
FIVE HUNDRED FEET ABOVE EAST BAKERSFIELD — Sheriff’s deputy Kevin Austin points down to a police officer crouched in an apartment courtyard, gun drawn. The officers are looking for a man who may be beating his girlfriend.
(four helicopters, two small planes, and a larger Bell Huey transport helicopter set to arrive in September)
4,000 — amount of calls answered by Sheriff’s Department helicopters
1972 — year unit started
700 — people arrested with help of helicopters
40 percent — amount of times the helicopter beats police cars to crime scene
500 feet — height at which helicopter flies over Bakersfield
140 mph — top speed of the MD 500 helicopter
3 minutes — time it takes to get across Bakersfield
15 minutes — time it takes to get to Tehachapi
25 — gallons MD 500 burns of fuel per hour at
$5 a gallon — cost of helicopter fuel
3 hours — maximum amount of time the helicopter can stay in the air
$1.3 million — annual budget for Air Support Unit
$185.8 million — annual budget for Sheriff’s Department
$4.5 million — cost of new Bell Huey helicopter
Photos:
Sheriff's deputy Norman J. Canby conducts a pre-flight check on the McDonnell Douglas 500E helicopter he'll pilot on a night patrol that evening.
Sheriff's Department pilot Norman J. Canby and tactical flight officer Kevin Austin responded to a "215," or carjacking and tracked the suspect as he ran from the car to a hiding place a block away. They "orbited" over the scene coordinating arriving ground patrol units until the suspect was apprehended by a Bakersfield Police Department K-9 unit.
After another loop in the Sheriff’s Department helicopter, the two officers on the ground, appearing very small, have found and pinned the man against a wall.
Austin rides shotgun in the helicopter and is the eyes and ears, a job called flight tactical officer. He keeps in constant communication with police on the ground about the situation.
He sees the situation is under control and tells his pilot, deputy Norm Canby, that we can move on to the next call. As a pilot, Canby is charged with flying the helicopter and navigating with other nearby helicopters and planes.
At 500 feet, Bakersfield looks like an expansive collection of subdivisions, with mini-cars moving slowly down the main streets and highways that connect sections of the city together. It is clear who takes care of their pools and who does not.
“On the ground you can only see one block but from up here, you can see 10 to 12 blocks,” Austin said as the chopper cruises over Stockdale Highway. “You can see all the potential exits and avenues a suspect could take.”
During the day, deputies search the streets and alleys with the naked eye. At night, they use night vision, infrared and spotlights to watch for bad guys.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Department Air Support Unit helped in arresting 700 people last year and answers 4,000 calls like the one above on a annual basis.
Not everyone is happy to see the helicopter.
Circling over a neighborhood at night is a source of annoyance and alarm for some residents. People who complain usually want to know why the helicopter was over their house, said Sgt. Tim Melanson, supervisor of the Air Support Unit.
“We say ‘This gang member we chased from a stolen car was in the area and that is all they need to hear,’” Melanson said. Pilots understand a helicopter overhead is bothersome so they limit the amount of time they continue to fly over a neighborhood, he said.
The helicopters have no set flight plan, primarily spending time in the air responding to calls for support or searching for criminal behavior.
Melanson has advice for those whose backyards are in the helicopter spotlight:
“If a helicopter is hovering overhead, shining a light on your house, you should definitely lock your doors,” he said. “If they are focusing their light in one place for an extended period of time, there's something going on, that's the bottom line.”
Back over the east side of Bakersfield, Austin extols the value of helicopters.
“I know what it feels like to see the helicopter save the day,” he said over the intercom. “It is a feeling of relief and reassurance that we will find the suspect.”
Later, the helicopter makes a banking turn to the northeast, heading to the Kern River to look for bodies.
Today, the water is running faster than usual, giving Austin a sense of hope that the fast current may wash free some of the bodies.
As the helicopter cruises along, each moving log in the water draws suspicion, but not enough for Austin to stop Canby.
While over the river, Austin explains how important is it that both the pilot and the FTO can fly the helicopter. He said he worries about gunfire from the ground but also watches out for assailants from an unlikely source.
“A mud hen came right through the windshield at night,” said Austin, hitting Canby in the chest. The bird was still alive when they landed, Canby said, but it died later of internal injuries.
Accidents can be even more serious.
In 1986, a sheriff’s sergeant and two search and rescue volunteers were killed when a Sheriff’s Department helicopter crashed in Kern Canyon. The Air Unit stopped operating for three years after the accident, Melanson said.
In 2004, the engine in one of the helicopter stalled on routine patrol and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on Haley Street, near Bakersfield College.
There are no such problems on this night.
After heading down the river, the helicopter cruises across town. Austin is hoping to catch criminals in the act.
They check around construction zones as they are frequently robbed, Austin said.
After answering several other minor calls, Canby swings the helicopter back to Meadows Field. The helicopter shudders as it gets close to the ground, a circle of dust swirling up around the rotating blades.
Finally the helicopter touches down, two hours after it took off.
“Some nights they are pulling us off some calls to answer other more serious calls,” Canby says. “I like those kinds of nights. You don’t watch the clock as you are helping guys out on the ground and before you know it your fuel is out and it’s time to go home.”