April 1971

Two new versatile crime-fighting tools touched down at Friendship Airport Wednesday, April 7, 1971 piloted by Baltimore Police Department Flight Officers James Vincent Daly, Hank Lippincott and Scott Miskimmon. The Hughes 300-C Helicopters ended a cross-country flight that had begun from Palomar Airport in California seven days earlier.

The flight, a first for the Department, was accomplished under the supervision and direction of Fiscal Affairs Division Director C. Jared Glauser and was accompanied by the Department's newest helicopter pilot, Flight Officer James Vincent Daly. The trip climaxed many weeks of intensive preparation prior to the actual acceptance of the new helicopters from the Hughes Tool Company, located in Culver City, California.

By taking delivery of the machines on the West Coast, the Flight Officers were able to take advantage of orientation and familiarization periods offered by Hughes engineers and test pilots. In addition, the Officers were able to observe, first-hand, the assembly of the helicopters for valuable future reference.

The Baltimore Police Department contingent arrived in California on March 23, 1971 and spent their first day with the Los Angeles Police Department, since that Department has employed helicopters for over five years and possesses invaluable experience in the techniques of helicopter employment in police work.

The new acquisitions were formally accepted and registered for the Department on March 26, 1971

During the next several days the Flight Officers received transitional flight instructions from Hughes Company test pilots who familiarized them with the new craft. At the termination of the three day orientation period the Officers were certified to fly the 300-C model.

On the first of April, the crews were ready to begin the return transcontinental trip. Due to a heavy fog which blanketed the area, the departure was delayed almost three hours. Further, because of extremely turbulent winds over the mountains, the route for the first leg was modified. The planned route for the return trip was through the southern section of the country to avoid adverse weather and high mountainous terrain farther to the north. This route would cover approximately three thousand miles and necessitate a projected figure of forty-two hours flying time.

Touchdown of the two craft was made at precisely 4: 17 P.M. on the 7th. Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau personally greeted Director Glauser and the crew members, congratulating them on the success of their flight. In company with the Flight Officers, the Commissioner inspected the Department's newest crime fighting apparatus.

Equipped with fuel-injection engines the Hughes 300-C helicopters are capable of a maximum airspeed of 105 miles per hour. Each is equipped with a powerful set of searchlights rated at 1.2 million candlepower. Both. are equipped with siren, public address system and police radio.

The two new helicopters raise to three the number of such craft available for tactical deployment in the Department's continuing efforts to combat crime. Purchased under a Federal grant, the Hughes 300-C models represent a maximum combination of utility and modernization within the Baltimore Police Department crime fighting efforts.

June 1971

It was a Saturday afternoon. The two youthful burglars had managed to force their way into a window of a Baltimore City Junior High School. The simplest part lay before them, to exit the building with their stolen property; undetected. But on that particular Saturday something went wrong. Upon leaving the school, the youths found themselves between converging patrol cars. In panic, each fled a different direction with Tactical and District officers close behind. After a time, the burglars outdistanced the Police Officers. Within a few minutes both were safely out of the area.

Realizing that their description would be broadcast over the Police radio, both boys shed their distinctively colored jackets, then mingled in a group of young people blocks away from the location of the burglary. Both were confident of their anonymity.

Their confidence was of short duration. Without hesitation two Officers approached the standing group, immediately identified the suspects and took them into custody. It was not guesswork on the part of the arresting Officers. Though they could not have observed the escape or its destination, a helicopter hovering five hundred feet above the scene had distinctly observed the entire incident and relayed the information to ground units.

The incident illuminates the progress made by the Helicopter Unit in its Aerial Patrol procedures. The following article is a commentary on that progress.

From 500 feet, Baltimore's appearance is radically altered and even fundamental considerations such as direction and location require a new, basic attention to the city's landmarks. Rows of homes stretch seemingly to the horizon, hampering instant identification of streets and businesses.

To overcome the difficulty, personnel of the Helicopter Unit must constantly use Baltimore's geographic layout as references for location. The central business district, harbor, numerous parks and major arteries provide a few of the important landmarks necessary for location identification.

The identification itself plays a crucial role, one that must be efficiently performed if the use of Helicopters is to be successful. The Department's "Foxtrot" Units respond to all calls broadcast as in progress. Maximum response time from anywhere in the city is only slightly more than three minutes. With effective use of standard reference points, specific locations can be found with minimal difficulty.

Those locations not readily apparent are immediately referred to the Communications Division. Through a grid coordinate system and excellent street guides, the Aerial Observers can receive the relayed information almost immediately.

Once over the sight, it is difficult for Aerial Observers to miss much even at night. Felons who have tried changing clothes, losing themselves in crowds or hiding beneath porches or shrubbery have inadvertently borne witness to the visual perception of the Helicopter Unit's Aerial Observers. As always, however a prompt and accurate description of the suspect is a necessary prerequisite to success.

Cooperation is the key word. Assigned as they are to the Crime Analysis Section of the Planning and Research Division, men of the Helicopter Unit have worked ceaselessly to develop, initiate and refine procedures for joint air-ground action. They are aided, in part, by other municipalities that have adopted the helicopter as a crime-fighting tool. But since the problems faced by widely separated jurisdictions can differ widely, the bulk of responsibility for formulating meaningful procedures must rest with the Baltimore Police Department.

To facilitate the process at present, the Hughes 300-C craft are undergoing operational trials while simultaneously flying regularly scheduled patrol. The experiences will serve as the foundation for much of the new procedures.

Neither of the smaller craft has yet been equipped with police radios. Using hand-held walkie-talkies, however, the Unit's Aerial Observers have assisted ground Patrol Units in several arrests including burglaries, narcotics offenses an assault and robbery and assaults on Police Officers. During the weekend of May 23, 1971 eight such arrests were made with direct assistance from the Helicopter Unit personnel, bringing to twenty seven the total number of arrests made with Helicopter Unit assistance since early February.

The arrests themselves are significant in several respects. They have served to illuminate the inherent value of helicopter use, particularly in light of the fact that the Unit is not fully operational, and that much of its procedures are still being implemented. More importantly, the majority of assists rendered in arrest situations took place after the subjects had effected their escapes from the general vicinity of the crime. It is readily apparent that the suspects might have successfully eluded ground units had not the Helicopters been available to detect and broadcast the direction of escape.

Besides fighting crime, the Helicopters have responded to situations necessitating crowd control, employing both the public address systems and trilling sirens. The hovering craft have elicited a definite psychological deterrent to unruly groups, and large gatherings have been dispersed with no injuries.

The Helicopter Unit's schedule is a busy one. Presently they fly three overlapping shifts. At least one craft is over the city throughout the day and much of the night. In addition Officer-in-Charge, Regis Raffensberger attends weekly In-Service Training classes at the Gunpowder Range to familiarize all Departmental members with the versatility and value of the helicopters in police work.

The weekly session is valuable in several ways. It acquaints Departmental personnel with new systems that will be implemented for use in conjunction with ground units. Sergeant Raffensberger also touches upon those procedures being given consideration, in the logical belief that the combined experience of the assembled officers will contribute much to the success of the new systems. He emphasizes, above all, the helicopters will be used as a supportive unit, specifically to assist and help protect ground units, and that cooperation is needed to make that ultimate function a reality.

Much, indeed has been accomplished since the advent of helicopter use in Baltimore. Air priority systems have been originated to minimize the danger of mid-air collisions over the city. Detailed contingency studies were carried out, including the selection of emergency landing sites throughout the city.

Presently, Unit personnel, in cooperation with the Planning and Research Division, are preparing a manual on helicopter procedures expressly for crime fighting, and a General Order delineating these new procedures to every member of the Department. Both should appear within three to six months.

Still another Departmental first took place on Wednesday, October 25, 1972 with the first helicopter landing on the new Headquarters Building roof. The newly functioning Heliport is only the second of its kind located in the city of Baltimore. The first is located atop University Hospital.

All three of the Department's helicopters were used during the landing ceremony. They flew a tight v-shaped pattern from their starting point, Pier 4, Pratt Street.

Approach to the heliport was made at 2 :00 P.M. With faultless precision, the pilots set each craft down in succession.

The first and largest craft disembarked Deputy Commissioner C. Jared Glauser of the Administrative Bureau, who was piloted by Flight Officer Scott Miskimman.

After taking off again, the first craft was followed by Flight Officer Henry Lippincott piloting one of the two Hughes 300 C craft. With him was Sergeant Regis Raffensberger, Officer in Charge of the Helicopter Unit.

The final touchdown was made by Flight Officer Thomas Howard, with Aerial Observer Weston Bousman.

Greeting the craft passengers as they debarked on the new Heliport was Police Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau, together with members of his Command Staff, and representatives of the local media.

The remaining Flight Officers and Aerial Observers of the Helicopter Unit were on hand at the Heliport to take part in the ceremonies.