NCJ Number
140596
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 40 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1992) Pages: 44-48
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
As many as 350 police departments are using small helicopters, known among law enforcement agencies as mosquitos, to assist in pursuing offenders, making arrests, recovering evidence, and protecting ground units.
Abstract
Because the helicopters are priced from about $108,000 and can be operated for about $66 per hour, they offer bargains to small, local police and sheriff's departments with limited budgets; however, some State patrols and Federal agencies also like the mosquitos. The helicopters are quiet and unobtrusive, excellent for low-altitude surveillance. This article describes operations in which the small helicopters have been utilized successfully including a drug bust in Florida, a missing-person search in the California mountains, and various surveillance roles in Minnesota and Utah. The primary limitations of these helicopters is their speed (only 110 miles per hour), the lack of space on board to store standard law enforcement equipment, and their relative instability in problem weather, high temperatures, and high altitudes. Two major helicopter manufacturers are in the process of designing faster, more powerful mini-copters that may be even more attractive to law enforcement agencies around the country.