MD Helicopters Law Enforcement

Transcription

1 Crew of Trooper 1, Maryland State Police MD Helicopters Law Enforcement On 5/25/2015 at approx hrs United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Baltimore requested MSPAC (Maryland State Police Aviation Command) to assist in the rescue of occupants of a 25' boat that had gotten lost and run aground in a sandbar in the area of Rickett Point in the upper Chesapeake Bay. The location of Rickett Point is within the boundaries of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds which has been an active ordnance testing site for the United States Military since Additionally, it is off limits to boaters due the exorbitant amount of Unexplored Ordnance (UXO) within the Proving Grounds and it is estimated that 1 million live rounds and 4 million inert rounds are in the land area range, and the water area holds 4 million live and 16 million inert projectiles ranging from gun and howitzer high-explosive ammunition, armor-defeating projectiles, bombs (up to 5,000 lb), bomblets, rockets, mines, grenades, mortar rounds, tank rounds, recoilless rifle and small arms projectiles. These munitions may be conventional or may contain chemical agents. Two USCG boats had located and established communication with the occupants of the stricken vessel on the sandbar, but could not make access to the boat due to its proximity to the shoreline. Additionally, because of the UXO, foot access could not be attempted in immediate area surrounding the vessel. The dire situation was relayed to the 4 occupants of the vessel to stay in the boat and await extraction by helicopter, which given the boats location presented the best option for rescue, with the least amount of risk to the occupants and rescuers. SYSCOM contacted the crew of Trooper 1 at MSPHQ whom had just finished a 12 hour day of Day/Night Hoist training in and around Martin State Airport and was in the process of refueling and re-setting the Trooper 1 aircraft to a mission ready status. The crew consisting of Instructor Pilot Tim McMahon, Pilot Joe Ireton, Crew Chief, Corporal Jeremy Everly, Rescue Technician / Medic, Corporal Gregg Lantz and Senior Trooper / Medic John Peach. The crew conducted impromptu brief discussing options available for extraction of the occupants, the CRM that was required to conduct the mission and safety concerns regarding the UXO and the experience level of the Crew. The crew then decided that the best course of action was to lower Corporal Lantz directly on to the boat via hoist, and then utilize the Rescue Basket to rescue the occupants with Corporal Lantz guiding them into the Rescue Basket and providing direction to the rest of the crew onboard Trooper 1. Although, already configured for hoist operations, the medical gear that had been removed from Trooper 1 was put back onboard in case it was needed in execution of the rescue. After refueling was complete, Trooper 1 launched and located the stricken vessel as well as the USCG boats which were in the area. A High Recon was then conducted to access the area around the boat, establish the wind line, and complete all items on the Hoist Checklist. Additionally, Communications were established with the USCG boats to facilitate the rescue. After establishment of a Hover, Corporal Lantz was lowered to the boat via hoist by Corporal Everly who expertly positioned Trooper 1 over the boat despite it being precariously perched on the

2 sandbar and withstanding an onslaught of waves driven by constant 20kt winds and with wind gusts of over 30kts. Additionally, the location of the boat off of Rickett Point did not provide any shelter from either the winds or currents driven by the main part of the upper Chesapeake Bay. Corporal Lantz who was operating an experimental communication device was able to establish and maintain constant verbal communication with the crew of Trooper 1 while on the boat significantly increasing Situational Awareness for the entire crew. Once on the boat, Corporal Lantz accessed the medical condition of all of the occupants, one of whom was incoherent and experiencing the onset of hypothermia. Once Corporal Lantz had determined the order and priority of rescue, he began to prepare the stern area of the boat because of the limited area available to utilize the Rescue Basket. Corporal Lantz had to dismantle the boats bikini top as well as several whip antennas to clear a path for utilization of the Rescue Basket. Once that was accomplished, he both signaled and communicated for Trooper 1 to move in to conduct the hoisting evolution. Again, Corporal Everly, expertly conned Trooper 1 overhead the stricken vessel maintaining an exact position to conduct the hoisting evolutions, 5 in total, which went smoothly as well as quickly. After all occupants were safely on board and secured, Trooper 1 flew to the University of Maryland Medical Center for the MEDEVAC. Although, this rescue went efficiently and effectively, it was by no means routine. The expertise and courage to persevere under very difficult conditions as an entire crew should be lauded. Additionally, through their adroit use of AW-139 and its associated equipment, the full capabilities of the aircraft were utilized to make a difficult hoist seem routine by expert use of rescuer in concert with the aircraft. Corporal Everly and Corporal Lantz have under their own initiative, determination and acumen, taken MSPAC abilities to conduct hoist missions to the "next level". Just a few years ago, it would have seemed unlikely that a MSPAC aircraft could have so flawlessly conducted a night overwater hoist mission to a 25' vessel taking on water and successfully rescued 4 occupants, via deployment of an MSPAC Rescue Technician, while utilizing NVG's. This crew s exceptional professionalism, personal initiative, and loyal devotion to duty reflect great credit upon themselves and are in keeping with the highest traditions of excellence of the Maryland State Police. The Maryland State Police Aviation Command has served Maryland citizens since 1970, and operates a fleet of eleven (10) helicopters from seven (7) bases throughout Maryland on a 24/7/365 basis. Missions include medevac, law enforcement, search & rescue, homeland security, and disaster assessment. The success of rescues performed by the Aviation Command depends a great deal on the cooperative effort of local fire, rescue, EMS, and law enforcement agencies. Nomination submitted by Sgt. Chad Gainey, Sergeant - Medical Operations, Maryland State Police

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8 MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Ryan Miller (PIC) and Wuthipong Tantaksinanukij (TFO), Senior Police Officer (Miller) / Corporal (Tantaksinanukij), Austin (TX) Police Department Air Support Unit On Sunday, February 8, 2015, Tactical Flight Officer Corporal Wuthipong Tantaksinanukij and Pilot Senior Police Officer (SPO) Ryan Miller were on duty for the Austin Police Department Air Support Unit. They had just returned from a patrol flight when they heard the dispatcher broadcast a high priority call of a person shooting a gun in a residential neighborhood. The dispatcher updated the call that the suspect was also shooting out street lights. With over 25 years of combined airborne law enforcement experience between the crew, they both realized the urgency of the situation and recognized, by the dispatcher's updates, the potential for an ambush to responding officers. The crew immediately headed back to the aircraft and responded to the incident. While on their way, Cpl. Tantaksinanukij advised the responding officers to not approach the residence and let the aircraft attempt to get "eyes on". This tactic was later believed to play a crucial role in the prevention of officers being injured by the shooter. Once the crew arrived on scene, Cpl. Tantaksinanukij activated the helicopters on board thermal camera systems and located the suspect within seconds. SPO Miller had already deactivated the exterior aircraft lighting in an attempt to conceal their location from the suspect. Within seconds after locating the suspect, the crew observed him standing in his front yard tracking and shooting at the helicopter with an unknown caliber long gun. The suspect shot at least 9 rounds within the first minute of the helicopter being on scene. Falling back onto their experience, both crew members recognized the advantage they had over the ground officers from their airborne platform. Ground officers were able to stage blocks away to remain out of the line of fire until additional resources arrived. The aircrew was able to utilize distance and altitude to minimize the potential of being struck by a projectile yet still keeping the suspect in view to broadcast his location. This response allowed ground officers to maintain cover and stay out of harm's way. Since the suspect had only fired at officers, and was not showing any aggression towards neighbors or civilians, Cpl. Tantaksinanukij asked dispatch to activate the reverse 911 system for that area and advise residence to shelter in place. This was an excellent recommendation since evacuating neighboring houses could have placed officers and civilians in danger. Throughout the one and one half hour flight, over 20 rounds were fired at the helicopter. SPO Miller identified a potential landing area in case a round damaged the aircraft. He kept a close watch on the aircraft and engine systems while varying his speed, altitude and distance. The wind was gusting up to 40 knots, which made maintaining varying distance to the shooter a challenge. SPO Miller did an excellent job utilizing tree coverage in an attempt to put obstacles between the helicopter and the suspect. The suspect stayed focused on the helicopter long enough for a SWAT team member to position himself. With the aid of the aircrafts IR illuminator and the SWAT officer's night vision device,

9 the suspect was clearly visible to the SWAT sniper, which enabled him to take a shot and end the threat. Cpl. Tantaksinanukij displayed a calm demeanor during the event. He painted the picture for the ground officers as to the suspect's actions while keeping SPO Miller advised of when shots were being fired at them. Both exercised excellent crew resource management while performing courageous actions and displaying exceptional bravery. It was unknown the caliber of the long gun or what kind of training the suspect may have had. Both crew members risked their lives and the potential for serious injury by staying on scene and drawing fire from the suspect, allowing ground officers to maintain cover and get into a tactical position to observe. As a result of Cpl. Tantaksinanukij and SPO Miller's calmness under fire, the entire event was captured on video through the aircrafts digital video recorder. This recording shows undisputable evidence of the suspect attempting to take the lives of the aircrew. The roll they played in this incident possibly saved lives of ground officers as well as civilians who could have been caught in the line of fire. The quick thinking of the aircrew helped keep this incident isolated to a single fatality. Both officers kept their cool and were able to provide valuable intel despite being engaged by an active shooter and seeing the shots being fired at them via the onboard thermal camera system. Their heroic acts that epitomize the concept of "To Serve and Protect from the Air." Nomination submitted by Dan Schwarzbach, SPO, PDD, Houston Police Department

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12 MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Pat Lawrence, Lieutenant, Michigan State Police Lieutenant Pat Lawrence is the Chief Pilot and Commander of the Michigan State Police (MSP) Aviation Unit. Lt. Lawrence is a 20 year veteran of the MSP and has served the Michigan National Guard for 30 years as a pilot. Through his dedication and performance as the Chief Pilot, he has been able to rebuild the MSP Aviation Unit. The MSP Aviation Unit was once a large unit with as many as five helicopters and three fixedwing aircraft, but as the economy and budgets declined, most of those assets were sold. With the declining economy, housing market slide, and the auto industry fighting bankruptcy, crime in the state of Michigan soared. Michigan possessed three of the top 10 most dangerous cities in America; Saginaw, Flint, and Detroit. A new governor came in with a challenge to reduce crime in those cities. Lt. Lawrence developed a patrol program that utilized the department's two helicopters to start patrols over the cities on a nightly basis. He was strapped as they had only three pilots and two aircraft to cover the three cities. He personally flew nearly 1,000 flight hours patrolling over the three cities and responding to multiple other missions such as search and rescue, marijuana eradication, and disaster response. The MSP Aviation Unit flew close to 800 missions in 2014 and was first on scene on close to 700 calls, with one in particular leading to the arrest of a homicide suspect. Lt. Lawrence was patrolling over the city of Flint when a call of shots fired went out. He responded to the scene and observed a victim lying in the street and subjects walking away. Using a camera outfitted with a telephoto lens, Lt. Lawrence was able to take pictures of the scene and the subjects walking away and getting into a vehicle. These photos were a key piece of evidence in the identification of the homicide suspect. As 2014 closed out, the three cities saw a drop in violent crime by 28 percent. Lt. Lawrence is the lead flight scheduler for all domestic cannabis suppression and eradication flights for the state of Michigan. He is in demand by the bulk of the multi-jurisdictional teams working these details for his ability to spot marijuana better than any other aviation asset in the state. The flights start in July and continue through October each year. In 2014, Michigan seized close to 76,000 marijuana plants, including a grow that Lt. Lawrence was able to spot that contained 14,500 plants in southern Michigan. Lt. Lawrence has fought hard to build the MSP Aviation Unit into a premier public safety aviation operation. He is a fixed-wing and rotor-wing instructor, trained two new pilots in 2014, and also started a tactical flight officer program. Lt. Lawrence developed a two-week school and has had three tactical flight officers join the Aviation Unit. In 2014, he sought to add a third helicopter to the fleet. As part of his tireless work of demonstrating firsthand the need for a new helicopter, Lt. Lawrence took the Governor and several legislators on multiple patrol flights over Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw to illustrate the difference that an air patrol unit makes. He conducted programs at the Capitol and met with different appropriations committees, and was finally awarded the approval to purchase a new patrol helicopter which arrived in The addition of the third helicopter will help Lt. Lawrence's plan of regionalizing the fleet for better response

13 time and increased flight time over the cities as a helicopter will be placed in Detroit and Saginaw. In addition to building the manned aircraft portion of the MSP Aviation Unit, MSP developed an unmanned aircraft program with the addition of the Aeryon Skyranger UAS. Lt. Lawrence was instrumental in obtaining authorization from the FAA to be the first law enforcement agency in the United States to operate a UAS statewide. The UAS program has responded to several calls that have included the photographing of multiple homicide scenes, arson scenes, a house explosion, and provided video of a house fire that pinpointed hotspots through the UAS's FLIR camera. Lt. Lawrence has worked hard to build up the MSP Aviation Unit, but it is his leadership of his officers and his interactions with the public that really makes him stand out. He volunteers time to provide static displays and, when he is not working for MSP, he is flying a King Air for the Michigan National Guard. Lt. Lawrence exhibits what the MSP strives to achieve in "A PROUD tradition of SERVICE through EXCELLENCE, INTEGRITY, and COURTESY." For his personal efforts that have perpetuated the professionalism and advancement of helicopters in airborne law enforcement, I nominate Lieutenant Pat Lawrence for the MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award. Nomination submitted by Dan Schwarzbach, SPO, PDD, Houston Police Department

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