Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 44
police work. Newton Division was known
as “Shootin’ Newton”, and was famous for
the Black Panther Shootout in 1969, and
the SLA Shootout in 1974.
While slowly patrolling the skies over
downtown LA, my observer and I moni-
tored a radio call of a “211 Just Occurred”
(Robbery) at a liquor store in Newton’s ar-
ea,. The dispatcher gave a brief follow-up
description of the suspect and his last di-
rection he was seen as he ran from the
store. The suspect was a light-skin Black
male, approximately 6’5, with red hair. Oh,
and to disguise his identity, he wore a red
bandana over his face.
Attempting to hide your face when you’re
that race, that tall and have red hair sounds
kind of silly, don’t you think? Just ADC—
Another Dumb Criminal)
Via the radio, my observer responded
that we were en route to provide aerial as-
sistance. I banked the aircraft and headed
southbound at VNE (pilot talk for maximum
allowed airspeed for that particular air-
craft) toward the scene, and called LAX ATC
for clearance to enter their TCA (controlled
airspace). This was necessary due to the
fact that our call was going to be under the
flight path of the large commercial jets ap-
proaching both west runways for landing.
Our little helicopter would be no match for
a jumbo jet, and a midair collision would
make a bad day for everyone. Even if we
caused a passenger-filled commercial air-
liner to have to make a “go-around” be-
cause of our air space intrusion, that would
certainly generate an angry phone call to
Chief Ed Davis at the least. However, fol-
lowing their understanding with FAA, LAX
F ALL 2019
ontrollers worked well with us police
pilots in our priority needs.
When we arrived over the general area
of the crime area, ground units were al-
ready on the scene. We began a wide orbit
several blocks from the incident, searching
backyards and for anyone running. It’s
amazing how well you can see physical de-
scriptions, clothing colors, and certain dis-
tinctive patterns of people from 500 feet
above the ground, our standard altitude for
orbit.
It didn’t take long for my observer, who
was using gyro-stabilized binoculars, to
find the suspect. He was trying to blend in
with the people on the street. Finding him
was easy since we could not see another
6’5” Black male with red hair and a red
bandana neckerchief tied around his
neck…at least not for miles around in our
bird’s eye view.
While the observer was directing
ground units to close in and make an arrest,
I thought that I could buy some time and
maybe not cause the suspect run. That
meant a foot pursuit for our officers. I acti-
vated the PA system and yelled, “You’re
Under Arrest! Get On The Ground”!
Wow! Was I surprised when our sus-
pect not only complied, but six to seven
other people also immediately dropped to
the ground with their arms prone, out to
their sides. (Hmmm, maybe I should have
been a little more specific to my person-of-
interest.)
Either I had possibly just located sever-
al crime suspects and cracked a bunch of
unsolved cases, or these individuals had
been through the process before. Whatever
caused all of those people to drop, when the
P AGE 40
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE