Brandon Twp – With weapons drawn three Brandon Township, Oakland County Sheriff deputies including Sgt.Tim McIsaac surround a bank in downtown Ortonville.
If necessary within seconds of the call, a backup to assist the officers could fly to the scene at more than 100 m.p.h.
Although the Wednesday, Sept. 24 call proved to be a false alarm, law enforcement agencies county-wide can get assistance within minutes from the air.
As one of the most technologically advanced law enforcement tools, the Oakland County Sheriff Department Aviation Unit can provide backup support for the Brandon Township substation within minutes of a call.
For more than six hours each day the aviation unit patrols Oakland County, assisting Michigan State Police units, the Coast Guard, FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
“We’re basically looking for anything a patrol car is looking for, ” said Dale Cason, Oakland County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit pilot.
Cason, with about 15 years experience as a helicopter pilot, transferred to the department about two years ago when the Aviation Unit started in 2001.
Providing backups for more than 30 county sheriff departments, the eyes in the sky are looking for everything from drunk drivers, drugs, car thefts, to Alzheimer’s patients who have wandered away from home, or missing children.
The team also routinely executes homeland security checks over key sites such as universities, major arenas, auto industry centers, and watersheds.
“We are looking for anything out of the ordinary,” said flight officer John Ashley, a former Coast Guard pilot.
With heat seeking infrared video capabilities and a broadcast microwave system, the helicopter becomes the eyes in the sky —night or day— for ground units seeking out a suspect who then has“nowhere to hide.”
An on-board Global Positioning System maps the exact spot of the event, assisting the helicopter to respond in minutes to anywhere within Oakland County.
Once on scene the system becomes a recorded movie screen of the events, offering both the pilot and flight officer a clear picture of activities on the ground.
“It’s a good platform for law enforcement,” said Cason. “Whatever you can think of we can do.”
In a situation such as a criminal hiding on school grounds, the pilot can deploy a visual downlink instrument, Broadcast Microwave System (BMS) down to ground officers so that they can also see the area the pilot is searching.
With the Forward Looking Infrared Thermal Imaging System camcorder capabilities, the entire system can be used under both daylight and darkness.
“The majority of our backups are for alarm calls (in the Brandon area),” said Cason, “but this helicopter tends to hold a suspect for the ground unit.”