I don't know about the rest of the country but in California a "Hot Prowl" burglary is police lingo for a burglary that is occurring while the homeowner is present inside the home.  This type of burglary is not that uncommon.  It typically happens in the day time when a burglar thinks the residents are away for the day.  Perhaps he knocked on the front door, didn't get an immediate response from inside the home, so he feels safe to break and enter and begin fulfilling his thieving ambitions.  There are times however when the homeowner is fully cognizant of the fact that someone is breaking in, and they have retreated upstairs or to a back bedroom and locked themselves in, while dialing 911.  That is how your typical hot prowl burglary unfolds.

So there we were last week, 20 minutes before "end of shift" when the radio crackled and we were requested for a "hot prowl" in Bonita, a somewhat upscale community in the South Bay.  Now hot prowl burglaries do occur at night also, but they are more rare, and they are a different breed.  A night time residential burglar should have an expectation that the homeowner is actually home.  Some night time burglars are driven by perverse sexual fantasies, while others seek the thrill and danger of breaking into a home and committing their criminal acts under the noses of the sleeping residents.

While it is foolish and even dangerous to make assumptions, it is also human nature and "cop nature" to rapidly process and to some extent make judgements on all the pieces of information flowing in about a certain call.  Tiny bits of information combined with years of patrol experience and sometimes a little intuition can often give the street cop a good idea if a call is ultimately going to be valid, or bogus.  Either way, you respond to the call as if it is 100% valid until you know absolutely otherwise.

Day or night, a hot prowl burglary is an emergency.  We wasted no time strapping ourselves into the helicopter and getting a south departure from runway 17/35.  It was coming up on 2:00 am when we arrived on scene.  The two story home was now completely surrounded by deputies, at least one Sheriff's K9, and now a Sheriff's helicopter orbiting 700' overhead.  Dispatch was still on land-line with the caller, who advised that they were still hearing noises coming from inside their house, downstairs. 

This is where cop intuition dangerously starts to suggest that this call might not be valid.  What are the chances that all of the patrol deputies, the K9 handler, and the helicopter could get on scene and set up while the hot prowl burglar is still inside the house.  No, in a real burglary the suspect would have been fleeing over the back fence just prior to the first deputy arriving on scene.   That's just the way these things tend to go down. 

The patrol deputies continue to do an excellent job of gathering intel from the caller as they have all along, via dispatch.  Who else is supposed to be in the house?  Do they have any children?  Were they expecting anyone else?  Etc.  All of the responses indicated that no one else should be there.  There is one daughter who is at a friends house.  Deputies obtain a description of the daughter's car and confirm that it is not in the driveway.  

A deputy advises that he can see "movement" in the downstairs portion of the house, through a window.  Silence.

Then, Deputy:  "Ask the caller if they own a bird of any kind."  Dispatch:  "Negative, the R/P is saying they do not own any type of bird."  Silence.

At last, Deputy:  "Ok, advise the R/P that they have a very large barn owl inside their house."

Exactly how the owl gained entry is unknown to this writer.

Hot owl burglary?  I guess that depends on the criminal intent of the owl. 

There are a number of law enforcement agencies around the country who operate Enstrom Helicopters.  So while this press release is regarding a military contract, I thought it would be informative for anyone who wanted to know a little more about Enstrom Helicopters.

Enstrom 480 Turbine Powered Helicopter

Menominee MI, February 15, 2010 – Enstrom Helicopter Corporation would like to announce that they will be providing16 480B advanced turbine training helicopters for the Royal Thai Army.  The 480B was selected in a competitive bidding process that included aircraft from 7 different major manufacturers.  In October Enstrom hosted a delegation of officials from the Royal Thai Army led by Major General Pittaya Krachangwong, who came to Menominee to inspect Enstrom’s manufacturing facilities and fly the different models of Enstrom helicopters.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be working with the Royal Thai Army,” said Jerry Mullins, Enstrom’s President and CEO.  “The 480B turbine helicopter was originally designed for military instruction, and although it has had great success in the commercial market, it’s nice to see it being recognized as a great training ship as well.  The Royal Thai Army’s visit has given them the confidence to go forward with Enstrom, now and in the future.” 

Along with General Pittaya, 3 other experienced Royal Thai Army pilots flew the Enstrom 480B and piston powered F28F.  “The said it was almost too easy to fly,” commented David Blake of Blake & DeJong Ltd., Enstrom’s Managing Representative in Asia.  “None of them have ever flown the 480B before, but they were able to take the controls and immediately felt comfortable enough to fly a number of maneuvers.   This will be a great training helicopter for the Royal Thai Army.”

Beyond just training, the Royal Thai Army intends to use their new 480B’s for a number of missions.  “Avionics-wise, these new 480B’s are going to be some of more advanced aircraft in the Royal Thai Army’s inventory,” said Enstrom’s Director of Sales & Marketing, Tracy Biegler.  “When we explained to the Royal Thai Army firsthand some of the features and capabilities of the EFIS system and the tactical radios, it really opened their eyes.  These aircraft will have the ability to do a lot more than just training, such as search and rescue, surveillance, and disaster relief.  The Royal Thai Army is definitely going to utilize the flexibility built into the 480B design.”

 
Enstrom is represented in Asia by Blake & DeJong Ltd., and in Thailand by M-Landarch Inc.  For more information on Blake & DeJong Ltd., please contact dblake@attglobal.net.  For more information on M-Landarch Inc, please visit www.m-landarch.com.

Founded in 1959, Enstrom Helicopter Corporation manufactures a complete line of helicopters. The three-seat, piston-powered F28F and 280FX are popular training, sport, and light commercial aircraft. The larger turbine-powered 480B is available as a three-place advanced trainer and patrol aircraft, or as a three to five place executive transport. For law enforcement applications Enstrom produces a specialized variant of the 480B, known as the Guardian, and the F28F, called the Sentinel. Enstrom can be found on the Internet at www.enstromhelicopter.com.
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Which Helicopter Parts The Clouds Over Los Angeles: The LAPD’s Helicopter Fleet.

To walk in Los Angeles, CA, is to walk amongst the sounds of the city; people talk on cell phones, dogs bark at other dogs, police sirens emerge and peak as quick as they plateau, and dissipate. You can get used to pretty much anything, as long as the weather treats you right. But there is one noise that is, in many intriguing ways, much more challenging to feint: the sound of the ever-prevalent helicopter.

Most often it is a helicopter owned by local news station, zooming over you as you sit in traffic, reporting to those already home that the drive they’re no longer doing is still somehow just as bad. One’s displeasure with said helicopters arises simply because they wish they could be in them, not because of the noise. The noise is always magical and it will always incite one’s curiosity and imagination.

Especially curious are those times when you see an LAPD helicopter go overhead – who is inside, where are they headed, what are they going to do? Answers to those questions, for better or worse, will not usually be available to the people below. Fret no longer, for the next time you see and hear that ever-prevalent hum, and you see that it’s LAPD, you’ll at least be left with something – you’ll know what helicopter parts the clouds over Los Angeles.

According to the LAPD Air Support Division website, they have 17 helicopters in their fleet, including a UH-1H “Huey” helicopter, 4 Bell 206 Jet Rangers, and 12 Aerospatiale B-2 A-Stars.

The UH-1H “Huey” helicopter is one of those very large yet versatile helicopters that were the common breed used in the Vietnam War. Its major selling points were its ability to hold large loads (both human and cargo), switch large guns in and out, and fly both low and high. This is without a shadow of a doubt going to be the loudest of any LAPD helicopters, so keep that in mind.

LAPD Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter on patrol over the City.The Bell 206 Jet Rangers – manufactured at Bell’s plant in Mirabel, Quebec – are composed of some of the best helicopter parts out there. These light utility dual-bladed helicopters were originally manufactured to win a military contract, but were ultimately beat out. You can differentiate between these guys and the UH-1H by noticing that it’s not as loud, and its tail is shorter. It probably has its doors closed, too. It’s white on top, and blue on the bottom with a huge spotlight.

Lastly, the most commonly seen LAPD helicopter – the Aerospatiale B-2 A-Star. This helicopter is known for its streamlined appearance from the outside, and it’s exceptional visibility from the inside. The fleet first got one of these models in 1988, and have since acquired many more. This is an exceptional unit for the LAPD, due to it agility, speed, cargo capacity, and pilot visibility. If you see an LAPD helicopter, statistically speaking, you’re probably looking at the Aerospatiale B-2 A-Star model.

Pima Sheriff's second Helio Turboprop Conversion, Tricycle Gear was added later.While fixed wing aircraft are undeniably the first police aircraft to take to the air, the helicopter has long since taken over as the preferred law enforcement aircraft of choice, for obvious reasons.  But is it smart to ignore the capabilities of some fixed wing aircraft as a primary patrol platform?  You might be surprised at what one Arizona Sheriff’s Department has been able to accomplish.   

In 1999 Sgt. Rick Pearson of the Pima County (AZ) Sheriff’s Department was tasked by his command to come up with a patrol support aircraft.  The only caveat was that it had to be cheaper to procure and operate than a traditional helicopter. 

Pearson almost immediately had an answer,  a fixed wing Helio Courier STOL aircraft.  Pearson had prior experience flying Helio airplanes and new that they had a stall speed in the high 20’s and could take off in 300’ with no head wind and at max gross weight.  Sgt. Pearson also knew that the Helio Courier had been used as a forward observation aircraft during the Vietnam era, and that hard points could be installed under the wings to mount a FLIR camera.  It was the perfect aircraft as far as he was concerned.

In 1999 the Pima County Sheriff’s Dept. purchased a 1974 model Helio Courier HT-295, and set about making the necessary upgrades to put it into service as a patrol support aircraft.  By early 2000 “Survey One” took to the air with a fresh coat of paint and a fresh engine overhaul.  It didn’t take long for the Pima County Sheriff’s Dept. to know that they had made the right decision going with the Helio Courier.  The aircraft flew an average of 5.5 hours a night, required little maintenance and had an operational cost of approximately $100 per hour. 

As great as this patrol aircraft was, the members of the Air Support Unit recognized that it could be better.  Over the next several years the Pima Sheriff’s Air Support Unit would convert this aircraft to a turboprop, then acquire a second Helio Courier and convert it as well.  This makes the Pima County Sheriff’s Department the owners of the only two Helio HT-420 aircraft in the entire country!

The turbine engine used for the conversion was the Rolls Royce C-20 with the B-17c turboprop conversion.  Now this was not the first time a Helio Courier had been converted to a turboprop.  A 1967 conversion “B-15” version of the engine resulted in 320 shaft horse power, but it actually underperformed the piston engine at higher altitudes.  The B-17c conversion results in 420 shaft horse power.

R.R. C-20 Turboprop engine being installed.So what kind of performance do they get with their turboprop Helio Courier?  How about a take off roll of 100’ at 87% torque, a landing roll of 50’,  a minimum forward air speed of about 30 knots IAS, 20 gallons per hour at loiter speed, and the ability to loiter for several hours longer than any LE pilot wants to stay in the air.  But there is more, at loiter speed (which is 70-80 kts) the prop only turns at about 1700 rpm resulting in little tip noise, and a very quiet aircraft above the city.  No who could use less noise complaints right?  Top speed for the aircraft is about 140-150 kias at 8500’ msl.

One of the first flights after the Turboprop Conversion.Both Helio Courier turboprops are outfitted with a FLIR Star Saffire III camera making them a true stand off “eye in the sky.”  Deputies in the cockpit of one of these aircraft are capable of monitoring a police call from several miles away, often without the bad guy or even the general public even knowing they are there. 

So what is the cost of such an aircraft?  Here are some numbers provided by Sgt. Pearson for their second aircraft.

Airframe:  $150,000
R.R. C-20 Turbine Engine:  $250,000
Total Conversion:  $450,000
FLIR Star Saffire Camera:  $450,000
Aero Computers Moving Map:  $100,000
Direct Operating Cost:  About $170 an hour. (about 1/3 of a Bell 206B3)

Sgt. Pearson notes that their program has been so successful, the budget for the Pima County Sheriff’s Air Support Unit was actually increased this year.  This is noteworthy in a time when many police air units are facing budget cuts.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Helio HT-420 aircraft are operated under “Public Use” aircraft rules.
While the aircraft may not be FAA certified, only factory parts were used in the conversion and FAA standards were followed as closely as possible. 

Any department or agency interested in acquiring and converting their own Helio aircraft for patrol can contact Sgt. Pearson if they have further questions.

rick.pearson@sheriff.pima.gov 

Police Helicopter Pilot.com would like to thank Sgt. Pearson for his cooperation, information and photos that made this article possible. 

All Pima Sheriff pilots are IFR Certified, and benefit from this all glass panel.

One of the main purpose of this site has always been to promote police aviation to the general public in a positive way.  In so doing I normally tend to avoid controversial subjects to the extent possible.  Not because I don’t want to take on a cause, but it just doesn’t play into the overall theme of the site. 

But every now and then something comes along that I just can’t turn a blind eye to.  Such is the case with a series of  rather silly, if not outright wacky videos on Youtube all about the Mesa Arizona Police Helicopter, Mesa Police Pilots, or the Mesa Police Air Support Unit.

In many ways this is an old story……as I will outline for you.  Why drag up old news right?  The problem is that while the story itself is somewhat stale, the videos live on in cyberspace ready to spring to life the moment someone does an internet search related to the Mesa Police Helicopter, or the Mesa Police Department’s Air Support Unit.  And since January of 2008, this often redundant series of videos has been viewed over 63,000 times, according to data from Youtube.   Some of the videos have since been reposted to other video sharing sites such as AOL video. 

And come to life they do with inflammatory titles such as;

“Mesa Police Helicopter Pilot Caught With Pants Down!”

“Mesa Police Helicopter Pilot Busted!!”

“Mesa Police Helicopter Pilot Caught Giving It Hard All on Tape!!”

“Mesa Helicopter Pilots Terrorize A Innocent Woman!”

And the list of titles goes on and on until it reaches  25. 

The purpose of this article is not to attack the author of these videos.  Rather it is to provide balance for anyone who is seeking legitimate information online about the Mesa Police Air Support Unit. 

Take for example the one title “Mesa Police Helicopter Pilot Caught With Pants Down!”  While used in a euphemistic fashion, it’s real purpose is to accuse and inflame.  When one clicks on the video however you get nothing more than 9 plus minutes of MD Helicopter rotor noise on four fixed cameras, and an occasional distant light from the helicopter.   It should be apparent to any observer (or listener) of the video that the helicopter is in a fairly wide orbit, as the rotor noise becomes louder and quieter depending on where the helicopter is at in the orbit.  No notable evidence of any wrongdoing and certainly nothing that rises to the euphemistic level of “getting caught with your pants down.”

The title “Mesa Police Helicopter Pilot Caught Giving It Hard.  All On Tape!”  makes one really begin to wonder about the author’s state of mind.  In this 4:56 second video you are treated to about 2 minutes of silence, 30 seconds of fairly close MD Helicopter rotor noise, and about 2 minutes of barely audible rotor noise, again on a split screen of 4 fixed cameras.  Not quite sure what the pilot was supposed to be “giving it hard” to. 

In at least one of the videos it appears the author is in his vehicle chasing the Mesa Police Helicopter through the city streets, while instructing and encouraging a child in the vehicle to get the helicopter on video. 

In order to have a better understanding of what is really going on here, we need to go back  to November of 2006.  A Mesa Police Helicopter and crew is working a police call which happens to put the helicopter in the same neighborhood as one David Degroote (about 37 at the time).  The police helicopter wasn’t on some run of the mill misdemeanor, but was actively involved in a search for suspects in the theft of a bank automated teller machine.  At least one of the crew members were wearing NVG goggles to aid in both the search and flight safety.  While in the area of the Degroote residence the helicopter and crew were hit with a high powered spot light, for approximately 30 seconds, (remember that NVGs amplify ambient light at anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 times.)  A bright spotlight shining on the police helicopter at night time is absolutely disruptive, dangerous and without question rises to the level of interfering with a law enforcement officer in the performance of his duties. 

In the coming weeks David Degroote would be arrested by the Mesa Police Department for shining the light at their Helicopter.  On 1-16-07 a criminal complaint was issued against Degroote for the misdemeanor charges of Endangerment, Disorderly Conduct and being a Criminal Nuisance.  At the time of his arrest and at the time the complaint was issued not one of  the 25 videos about the Mesa Police Helicopter or pilots had been uploaded to Youtube.  The 25 videos in question have all been posted under the Youtube user name of “justjumpnow.”

Let me pause here and say that Mr. Degroote could very well have had a legitimate noise complaint against the Mesa Police Helicopter.  Helicopters are admittedly noisy, and tend to annoy some people more than others.  Most law enforcement aviation units are well aware of the noise emitted by their helicopters and most take noise complaints from the public seriously.  Many law enforcement air support units go so far as to avoid noise sensitive areas all together when possible.  If Mr. Degroote did have a legitimate noise complaint in this case, it appears that he chose not to follow up on it in a professional and courteous manner and instead placed himself in a position of committing a criminal act. 

According to Degroote himself, on 12-6-06 (between the date of the alleged incident and the date the criminal complaint was issued) he filed an injunction [against harassment] against Officer David Dolenar Jr and the Mesa Police Department.  The injunction was never granted by the court.  However, on 2-1-07 Officer Dolenar filed an injunction to stop harassment, against David Degroote.  On 3-21-07 the injunction was issued by the court.  The court essentially agreed that Mr. Degroote was harassing Officer Dolenar.  (Source-  Letter published by the Degroote’s on the website Freedomsphoenix.com.)  I am intentionally not linking to the site, but it is there if you want to go searching for it.

One year later, in November of 2007 David Degroote was convicted of the misdemeanor charges of  Endangerment, Disorderly Conduct, and Criminal Nuisance, according to a story in the East Valley Tribune dated Nov 9 2007.  Degroote was ordered to serve 5 days in jail, with another 25 days suspended on the condition that he completes 3 years of probation and that he completes mandatory counseling. 

One of the videos posted by “justjumpnow” is of the local News 5 TV station doing a story about Degroote’s conviction and his ongoing feud with the Mesa Police Department.  Even while the story equally covers his conviction and his complaints, the video was titled “Mesa Police Illegal Helicopter Activity Revealed on News 5.”  Huh?

The first video about the Mesa Police Helicopter was not uploaded to Youtube until 1-14-08, after Degroote’s conviction and after he was ordered by the court to stop harassing Officer Dolenar.  The last video was uploaded on 9-1-08.  The on screen dates on the videos indicate that all but one of them was filmed in 2006 or 2007 with the vast majority being filmed in 2007.

Interestingly, there has been no activity and no logins by “justjumpnow” for over a year on his Youtube channel.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that Mr. Degroote remains on probation until around November of 2010.  If I had to guess I would guess that his Youtube activities were brought to the attention of his probation officer and or the judge, and he risked going back to jail if he continued, (pure speculation on my part.) 

Can a judge curtail someone’s freedom of speech in this manner while on probation.  Absolutely, by accepting probation in lieu of more jail time the defendant agrees to give up certain liberties, which can vary from case to case.  People routinely give up their 4th amendment rights to unreasonable search and seizure, (generally when on felony probation or when the crime involved a theft.)  It would be completely reasonable for the judge to prohibit Degroote from uploading inflammatory videos on Youtube, about the Mesa Police Helicopter, while he is on probation. 

I also noted that 9 of the videos were filmed on either 2-21-07 or 2-22-07 and some of them just before and just after midnight.  This would lead a normal person to believe that at least some of these 9 videos stem from one incident, or one radio call the Mesa Police Helicopter was involved in. 

So there you have it.  I will let you decide if Mr. Degroote and his family were targeted for harassment by the members of the Mesa Police Air Support Unit, or if Degroote embarked on a misguided campaign of filming and posting videos to Youtube as a way to get back at the police for his arrest and conviction. 

It seems to this writer that Mr. Degroote could have avoided a lot of heartache by going into the police station and having a friendly chat with the person in charge of the air unit, instead of picking up a spotlight.