AIRPLANES
As early as 1910, law enforcement officials in the United States began advocating for the use of airplanes to fight crime. Automobiles and other motorized transport challenged law enforcement, allowing criminals to flee faster than ever before. As aviation grew, many also saw a potential for aerial crime that could only be combatted with airplanes.
NYPD pilots and plane, 1931
Courtesy of NYPD
After World War I ended in 1918, large numbers of war-surplus planes, along with trained pilots and mechanics, became available and made the first airborne public safety operations practical. The first law enforcement agencies to operate aircraft were those in complex geographies not easily policed by automobile. During the Prohibition era, New York City, Los Angeles, and Midwest oil field boomtowns were early adopters as smuggling from the coasts and borders fueled by organized crime challenged law enforcement to an unprecedented degree.
Most early aviation units were auxiliary forces with volunteer pilots and privately owned airplanes. During the 1920s, most of these efforts were more publicity than public benefit. Because planes lacked radios, their ability to gather intelligence on smuggling and other suspicious activities was limited. As Prohibition was ending, the introduction of two-way radios made real-time response by ground units guided by aircraft a possibility. With automobile ownership exploding, traffic management from the air also became a popular application as did searching for missing persons. In areas with extensive coastlines, the use of seaplanes became important for rescue.
The Air Commerce Act of 1926 began the formal regulation of aviation in the United States, prompting police departments to consider how to combat aerial crime with patrol planes, just as patrol cars were used to police automobile-based crime. This proved to be less of a problem over time than was initially anticipated, but it helped to create interest in establishing aviation units.
Even with the Great Depression, improvements in airplanes and airports opened opportunities for law enforcement aviation units. The arrival of helicopters in the late 1940s reduced demand for airplanes, especially as helicopters were expensive to acquire and operate. Nonetheless, airplanes have remained a popular choice when long distances or long endurance missions are required.
HELICOPTERS
Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. helping an injured hiker in 1955
Courtesy of LASD
The emergence of the practical helicopter during World War II had obvious advantages for law enforcement. However, high costs limited the adoption of helicopters to only the best-funded departments through the 1950s. The initial helicopters deployed were two- or three-seat models used mainly for traffic control and missing persons searches.
By 1964, urban unrest created a new urgency for aerial observation in law enforcement. Combined with new federal subsidies and studies validating the effectiveness of helicopter patrols in reducing violent crime, police departments with helicopters proliferated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This revolution in capability was aided by new technologies like the turbine-powered light helicopters, such as the Bell JetRanger, that were a byproduct of the Vietnam War. Other military technologies demonstrated in Southeast Asia proved to be very useful in airborne law enforcement. Xenon searchlights (like the Nightsun) and infrared cameras made helicopter night patrols effective, especially in criminal pursuits.
The turbine-powered revolution also made medevac missions a practical option, especially as highway accidents were emerging in the early 1970s as a national crisis. While the Coast Guard and National Guard had a long history of using their larger aircraft to respond to natural disasters and weather emergencies, the increased availability of law enforcement aircraft fueled an increasing demand for their use in local emergencies, which fueled a new boom in the 1980s of departments acquiring larger models with hoists or the ability to accommodate a flight nurse for treating medevac patients in flight. One of the best examples of this need were the U.S. Park Police, who had to respond to the 1982 Air Florida crash in the Potomac River without a rescue hoist onboard. It was a lesson that reverberated among departments nationwide.
By the 1990s, most Americans were under the coverage of some form of airborne public safety capability. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 introduced new counter-terrorism mission requirements for many departments, while the increased intensity of climate-induced disasters such as wildfires, floods, and tornados have fueled ever-greater demand for rapid aerial response in times of need.
Maryland State Police helicopter, 1997
Courtesy of MSP
DRONES
While drones have existed in various forms for more than a century, they have only been in law enforcement use for barely a decade. By the 2010s, improvements in microprocessor, battery, and high-efficiency electric motor technology enabled development of small, lightweight, as well as relatively easy-to-operate and affordable remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) that provide departments with a rapidly deployable aerial observation platform. Lightweight infrared and LIDAR sensors help conduct missing persons searches when other aviation assets are unavailable and are making aviation accessible to many more departments nationwide. Throughout the past decade, the use of drones by law enforcement has exploded, with more now in use than conventional aircraft. In 2017, 347 law enforcement agencies were using RPAS. By the end of 2019, 1,578 public-safety oriented agencies were identified in the U.S. as using drones.
Customs and Border Patrol officers controlling unmanned aerial vehicles, 2006
Gerald Nino, CBP, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
