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| Las Vegas Metropolitan Police H145, ©Jérôme Deulin (Airbus Helicopters) |
Among the H125, H135 and H145, around 810 helicopters are in service in law enforcement, contributing to Airbus’ nearly 60 percent share of the global law enforcement fleet over the last 10 years. Below, a look at the airborne police units of Las Vegas, Japan and Germany, who are at the service of community and country in specially-equipped helicopters.
Up on the mountain The helicopter’s shadow flits across the desert, where Joshua trees stand like old men over clumps of creosote. It’s still cool and snow lies in valleys on Mount Charleston. The crew of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s air unit, or Metro, point the nose of their H145 toward the area where a hiker has slipped and sustained injuries.
“We transfer from the scene to medical transport,” says Steve Morris, Jr., Metro chief pilot. “The medevac companies won’t go back in the canyons. And they don’t have a hoisting ability, so we’re called to transfer from the scene.”
The canyon where the hiker is waiting lies in shadow, its 90-foot walls V-shaped. The H145 hovers while the hoist operator lowers his crewmate to the canyon floor. Wind bends the trunks of junipers, their branches an obstacle for the orange-suited officer; he tugs the yellow rescue sling out of their way as he descends.
"The medevac companies won’t go back in the canyons, and they don’t have a hoisting ability, so we’re called to transfer from the scene."
Steve Morris, Jr., Las Vegas Metropolitan Police chief pilot
Las Vegas Metro operates six helicopters, deployed 80% of the time on patrols in support of ground officers. In August 2017, they became the US’s first police agency to take delivery of an H145, for mountain rescues. It’s also used for quick reaction force deployment, as during the 2017 Rock ’n Roll Marathon, where “we had it ready, staffed and staged,” says Morris. “We flew overwatch over the events with the team in the back ready to deploy.”
A few minutes pass, with everyone concentrated – the pilot on the instruments, the hoist operator’s gloved hand on the line to guide his crewmate in. The altimeter reads 9,047 feet mean sea level (MSL), with the H145’s twin engines maintaining a steady hover. The rescuer rises into view, supporting the hiker in the sling.
“The rescue at Mount Charleston was high,” says Morris. “We’ll get some higher-density altitude ones in the summer, when it’s over 112o F (44o C).”
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| Las Vegas Metropolitan Police H145, ©Jérôme Deulin (Airbus Helicopters) |