Hanford Insider: ENCORE EPISODE, KCSO Air Support Unit

Why More Aircraft Over Hanford

If you've seen more planes and helicopters circling Hanford over the last few months, you're not alone. After a tip from one of our listeners, I thought it would be a great idea to take a peek inside the Kings County Sheriff's Department Air Support Unit. With me today is Sergeant Jerry Hunter and Senior Deputy Eric Johnson. Welcome to the show, guys. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Mission And Crew Overview

Hey Jerry, uh when was the air support unit uh established and what's the overall mission of the program?

Our air support unit for the Kings County Sheriff's Office was established in 2014. And our overall mission is to support the deputies and the patrol officers on the ground.

So how many officers are assigned uh to the program?

Currently uh myself and Eric Johnson are the two full-time crew, and we're supplemented by four TFOs from other agencies. TFO's uh tactical flight officer that operates a camera system, and we also have five volunteer pilots that are all uh currently military aviators. So, what types of calls have you responded to? We respond to every call imaginable. Um, our bread and butter, our vehicle pursuits and perimeters locating people that are hiding from law enforcement, but we respond to uh every type of call there is um, you know, throughout our shift that we work each day.

Okay, uh so Eric, what do the patrols and shifts look like on an average day that you come in to patrol the skies of Kings County?

Uh Sergeant Hunter and I have a very, very flexible schedule. Uh we make our own schedule. We come in um just trying to fit the needs of the department. When it's hot, we fly a few more uh night shifts. Um if we see a specific time or certain days that are a little busier than others, we'll come in earlier, come in later. Um so it just depends. Generally we work uh 10-hour shifts. So we'll come in and we'll work uh four days a week. Ten hour shifts. Usually we come in and we'll pre-flight the airplane, we'll check to see what kind of uh if there's any crimes that have been happening that we need to watch out for. Once the airplane's pre-flighted, we figure out if it's uh good enough weather to fly, we'll take off, we'll fly for a few hours and just assist with any calls we possibly can. We can stay in the air for three or four hours at a time if need be. Um if if that gets to be a little long for us, we'll land, we'll get fuel, we'll eat, stretch our legs, and then fly again.

Camera Use And Privacy Concerns

So you're the technology guy I understand, and you're in charge of the cameras, so this would probably be a good question for you. I know on social media sometimes we see a lot of stuff, good and bad. Uh, but one of the common questions that comes up is people talk about uh you're flying around to spy on people and you know look for to catch them, you know, doing something maybe they should they feel like they should be doing. So uh, what is your approach to patrol and how do you use the camera to solve crimes versus just observing what's going on?

Um so yeah, the camera's a phenomenal tool, but no, we're not we're not flying around spying on people. Um, for the most part, there's so many calls for service for us to go to. We just help other agencies out. Um, Hanford, Lemoore, Corcoran, Avenel. Uh I have a call screen on my computer in the in the uh airplane itself. So I can see every single call that's coming in as it's coming in for every agency in the county. So I just stare at that call screen most of the night and or most of the day during our flight. And with the call comes up that I think we can be of assistance to, whether it be a missing child or a pursuit or somebody running or a spousal abuse, I look at the call, I think we can help, and we go to it. Um with the camera, we're not just flying around looking in people's backyards. Uh, we do do directed patrol with the camera, trying to find criminals, uh, whether that be reckless drivers that are driving 120 miles an hour on the freeway. Um, when we know that certain businesses have been hit with burglaries, uh, we'll we'll keep a special eye on certain businesses, but we're not just flying around looking at people's homes. Um, it's just not what we do.

Getting Over Any Call Fast

So then, Jerry, tell us a little bit about the program. You're based at the Hanford Airport. Do you control the whole county? And how do you respond to these different agencies that require service?

That's correct. We're based out of the Hanford Airport, so it's where we take off and land from every day or every shift that we work. And like Eric said, Eric monitors all the calls for service throughout the entire county on his computer in the back of the aircraft. Uh, my job is simply to get us there. Eric will uh tell me what type of call we're going to. I monitor the radio as well. Um, so I have a good idea of what you know what the the details of the call are. I'll get us in that location. Eric takes over uh all the radio communications, um, all the law enforcement side of the house. I do all the aviation side of the house, fly the uh the proper orbit that best suits Eric and while he's operating the camera.

Well, you guys make a good team. Uh let's say there's a a need for service in Corcoran. You're on the ground here in Hanford, how long would it take you to get to uh orbit around maybe a particular incident and for say Corcoran?

If we're already here at the airport uh for our airplane, by the time we get in taxi and take off and be overhead in Corcoran, you're looking right around 10 minutes uh with a helicopter. Again, if we're already here, we can get in, take off, and be overhead in about five minutes.

Yeah, that's impressive. You guys make a great team. So you actually utilize um there's not a separate crew for the helicopter and a separate crew for the airplane. You are able to fly both of them. Correct. That's awesome. Um, so Jerry, tell us about some of the other agencies that you help out uh with. I know you know you've got definitely Kings County Sheriff's Office and Hanford PD, Lamora P.D., Avenel, and such, but uh sometimes you get calls for service from other agencies. Um how's how does that happen?

Yes, so our our private responsibility is all the agencies in Kings County, but like you were saying, we uh are often tasked with helping um uh different federal agencies, DEA, U.S. Marshals, FBI, as well as other uh HIDA narcotics teams. Um we help the highway patrol if needed, if their aircraft aren't available, and any other agency that may need uh uh aerial support that they don't have access to. If we're available, we'll help them. But our our primary focus is on the agencies in our county. But if we're not busy, we'll go help other agencies as well.

So,

Why Kings County Built Its Own

why did Kings County venture into air patrol um versus maybe uh hiring outside agencies to come? What are the advantages of having our own program here right here in Kings County?

That's a great question. So we work for an amazing sheriff, Dave Robinson, and he's uh uh very much a forward thinker, um trying to keep up with technology and the times of law enforcement. Law enforcement tactics have changed throughout the years, and our sheriff is a big proponent of supplying the the citizens of our county with the latest technology to bright to provide the best law enforcement service that we can. Um moving forward, we we started realizing there was a tremendous need for an aerial law enforcement program, and that's what got us pointed in the direction. Anytime we need an aviation unit uh to help us with a search or a pursuit, we'd have to call CHP, we'd have to call uh the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, sometimes we'd have to call the Kern County Sheriff's Office, who all had airborne law enforcement. And when available, they would they would come and assist us. And those requests became more and more, it seemed like every month. Um, so we decided to uh start pursuing our own aircraft and what it would take to you know get an aircraft and the funding available and the funding needed, the equipment needed, um, and eventually that led us to where we are today.

So, Eric,

Missing Persons Searches From The Air

being the eye in the sky, you are following a lot of pursuits, uh leg bales, as we call them, but you've also had some special missions to uh find missing persons and stuff. Can you share with us a little bit about the importance of that aspect of the job?

Oh, definitely. We are a exceptional locating tool, whether it be for missing animals, missing people. I've found missing children before that were missing for hours running around Limore, uh the city of Limore that people couldn't find. Um recently, a few months back, there was an elderly dementia patient at a assisted living home that had escaped overnight, and it was cold in the winter, and they couldn't find him for quite a few hours. Uh it was a different uh actually, like we just talked about, it was a different agency, different county, um, but their air support was not available, so they called for us, and we have no issue going to help, especially in something like that. Uh so we flew over and took us a while. Um based on the time frame and and his age up in his 80s, we were figuring he wasn't gonna be too far within a mile or two of uh where he escaped from. Um but come to find out, uh I decided after searching extensively the area I thought he was gonna be in, we couldn't find him, just decided to open up our orbit and search a little bit farther. And luckily I was able to, about five miles away, I was able to find uh this elderly male in a great vineyard and um possibly saved his life. It was cold middle of the night, and I directed deputies to him um to get him medical care and they got him back home. So uh we do that quite often. Probably one to three search and rescue missions a month, um, depending on if we're up. And sometimes they call us for something like that. Other agencies will. By the time we get in the air, they've already found them. Um but it's it's nice to have the availability to do it.

So, Jerry,

Helicopter Presence And Rescue Options

getting back to the helicopter, this is a new program to Kings County, and I know those people that have apps on their phones are seeing a Kern County uh unit uh because the the helicopter came from Kern County as I understand it, but it is Kings County, and that helicopter serves a purpose similar to the air patrol of the winged aircraft, but the helicopter actually has um a more specific purpose. Can you kind of share with us how the helicopter can get you in places maybe that you aren't able to get in with a fixed wing aircraft?

Absolutely, and that seems to be a hot topic lately on social media. So we operate our helicopter just like we do our fixed wing. The only difference is the helicopter operates at a much lower level, so it's more uh apparent to the public. Usually when Eric and I are flying patrol missions in the fixed wing, we're out of sight, out of mind. People don't hear us, they don't know we're in the air. Whereas a helicopter, obviously, it's louder, we fly much lower uh based on the camera system that's on it. But we decided uh there are some things in airborne law enforcement that a fixed wing can't do, and one is command presence. So we could be overhead, you know, a call for service, and again, we're out of sight, out of mind. People don't know that we're there. That could be a hindrance sometimes. Um, specifically last summer, um, the county experienced a rash of shootings. I believe it was six or seven shootings within four hours. Um we were overhead uh in the fixed wing during this time. We didn't have a helicopter yet, and we were uh it ended up being rival gangs. So one would go shoot at the other. The rival gang would have a meeting, then they would go do another shooting. Well, Eric and I were watching these meetings taking place, but there's nothing we can do. They're in on private property in people's backyards, so the patrol officers can't just walk into somebody's backyard, you know, to disrupt these meetings. So what we ended up doing uh to try to stop all these shootings from continuing is we called uh the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, asked them to fly over the certain neighborhood, turn their spotlight on, um, just to let the gang members know that, hey, we're overhead and we're watching you. It was a command presence. Um, we didn't have another shooting that night. Uh Eric and I were actually orbiting quite several thousand feet above the helicopter, and we watched all these gang members just disperse. Um they pointed at the helicopter and eventually um dispersed, and we didn't have another shooting that night. So the helicopter plays a pivotal role of command presence, but it was it also gives us the ability during emergency situations to be able to land um to assist uh patrol officers on the ground. For instance, if we have a Kettleman City deputy that's in a fight for his life, you know, say out on uh Utica and 25th Avenue, that that deputy's patrol beat alone is 750 square miles. Um so depending on where he is, it could take upwards of 45 minutes to an hour for that deputy to get help. If it's uh if it's an absolute emergency, um, we have the ability of landing um the helicopter on the side of the road to be able to get out and help that deputy. Both Eric and I have all of our equipment in the helicopter to where, you know, it's our standard patrol equipment, um, rifles, handguns, duty belt, our vests. Um I would stay with a helicopter, Eric would get out and help that deputy. Same for traffic accidents. I don't know how many times we've been overhead traffic accidents where somebody has been ejected, and um, you know, you just have passerby performing, you know, first aid on this person that essentially looks like they're they're gonna die, depending how far you know where the car crash is, how far fire is, how far EMS is. We have a a trauma kit in our helicopter. If the need arises, uh, we can land or it can jump out, provide emergency first aid until EMS arrives on scene rather than just flying above it, watching it, and being helpless. Um, with the addition of the helicopter, we can also do water rescues. Those are a hot topic right now with the Kings River. I think our dive team did 12 rescues last Friday alone. Um with a helicopter, we can attach uh it has a cargo hook, we can attach a long line with a cinch collar. We can fly that collar over to the victim that's in the water. They could put the cinch collar around their waist and their chest, and we can lift them out of the water onto a canal bank. Um, so it just gives us a lot more ability um than the fixed wing. So uh that was the reason we decided to purchase it because it has a lot of capabilities to enhance the safety of the public that we can't currently do with the fixed wing.

Well, you certainly summed up the importance of the fixed wing and the helicopter and um the way that they respond to calls and they're helping keep our county safe. Um,

Searchlights Rumors And What’s Really Happening

for both of you, what what is something that you think the community should know that maybe we haven't touched on yet? Um, just getting the word out about the program.

I think the community um I really want to educate the community. We just had an open house um showing our aircraft to the the citizens that they paid for them. It's their aircraft. We just get the luxury of of working on them every day. Um whether it's a fixed wing or the helicopter, we're just on normal patrol. If you see the helicopter flying and orbiting a neighborhood, it's because of a call for service. Uh there it's not necessarily an emergency, it could be just a foot chase, it could have been a car chase. We could be looking for somebody hiding in somebody's backyard. Um, at night, we'll utilize the searchlight on the helicopter. Uh similar to what you see other agencies doing on TV. It's not the end of the world. You don't have to fear. Uh, we're just doing our job and we're trying to help the guys on the ground. Um, that's the biggest importance. Again, the fixed wing, we're kind of out of sight, out of mind. Nobody really knows that we're up there. We're the helicopter, we fly at lower levels, it's louder. Uh the community isn't used to seeing a helicopter until recently. Um, so there's been um there's been some misinformation on social media about what we're doing. It's our helicopter, it's not Kern County's. That's where we bought it from. Um, but we're just we're helping the guys on the ground. It it isn't a uh you know a major emergency situation. We're just helping the guys on the ground try to find whoever they're looking for.

Yeah, I'm not sure I can add much to that. Um Sergeant Hunter hit the nail on the head. The big thing with the helicopter and social media is oh, they have the searchlight on, so so they must be looking for a drug dealer or something. So sometimes it's uh we use the searchlight to direct, um, which is a benefit of the helicopter. Um the airplane, me in the back, I'm having to tell the deputies, trying to direct the deputies or officers in to what I'm looking at. And sometimes it's hard. It's like, hey, go to the go to the greenhouse. We're like, well, they're they all look green down here. Okay, well, go three houses to your east and then make a right. Oh, okay. With a helicopter, if it's especially if it's at night, hey, the the person you're looking for is in this backyard. Well, we don't know which backyard it is. Okay, we can turn the we can turn the spotlight on and they can see exactly what we're pointing at and they can go towards the light. Um and it could be, you know, a missing child that we're circling for, it could be a number of things um that we're circling for. So it is it's not necessarily a a pursuit or somebody that has a gun that's running through your backyard. It may be. Um, or it may just be somebody that stole, stole from Dollar General a couple packs of cigarettes. Um, we just help with anything we possibly can. If we think we can help the deputies on the ground or the officers on the ground, we're gonna help them.

Wow. Uh, what an impressive program you have here. And I'd like to thank uh both of you for joining us on the show. And sounds like we've got a big shout out to Sheriff Robinson as well and um the people the taxpayers of Kings County who have made this program happen. So I'd like to thank both of you for coming on the show and your service to our county.

Thank you for having us. We really appreciate it. Um,

Ride-Alongs And Closing Thanks

we're always uh open to showing people the equipment. Uh all you have to do is simply call our dispatch. We also do ride alongs uh when able. We can't always get to everybody. Um, but again, to schedule a ride along, if you want to fly in our aircraft, all you have to do is call our dispatch. We'll try to arrange that as much as possible, um, depending on you know our work schedule and what we have going on. Well, thanks again.