Want to share some very cool videos that were shown at the recent Rotary Badge, Shield and Star Dinner. Thanks to Sgt. Wade Bourassa, Pilot Air Support Unit with Saskatoon Police Service for providing us the opportunity to share. A dramatic example of what the police plane can do.
Both videos are a montage showing multiple events. These events is an infrared camera. It detects heat enabling us to see in the dark, and as a result, displays it as black-and-white.
The first video is what you might expect when thinking about what the police do. Utilizing an aircraft for such tasks dramatically reduces the risk factors when dealing with circumstances that are traditionally unmanageable.
In order to truly appreciate what you’re about to see you need to know what our police officers were dealing with in the events depicted in the video.
“fly me courageous” – you are about to see moments in the capture of a person responsible for abduction and unlawful confinement
- armed robbery at gunpoint
person responsible for auto theft and being unlawfully large (breaking out of jail) - capture of an attempted murder suspect who is captured shooting at farmers from a vehicle
- multiple events in the capture of drug traffickers and gun possession
“Scared” – you were about to see truly shows the dramatic other side of what we do in air support , which is locating vulnerable people before it’s too late. You are about to see is moments when Air 1 locates
- 66 year-old blind missing person who is missing for 17 hours and in -40 temperatures.
- You’re going to see multiple vulnerable people located by Air 1 including:
- Vulnerable youth on a bridge
- Vulnerable youth climbing a baseball backstop with a rope
- 3yr old naked autistic non-verbal child located by Air 1 1.5 km from his home.
- 86 year old with dementia who wondered from the family home in a rural area.
Flying since 2005 these are just a few minutes of the 13,000 + hours of flight time, 8500 criminal charges, 348 evade police incidents, 2750 arrests, and 19,500 calls for service.
