Police Helicopter Instrumental In Stopping Overnight Pursuit

092304 - Courtesy - News Channel 8

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Tulsa - The police helicopter plays an important role for the Tulsa Police Department. Especially Wednesday night. It was instrumental in slowing down a dangerous high speed chase. News Channel 8's Bill Mitchell shows us why Police One is so important in chases like that one.

The minute Police One goes 97, that means he's there. The ground units back off and the suspect, who sees the officers gone, slows down, not realizing that just six hundred feet above his steering wheel, Police One has got him locked in.

Police pilot, Sergeant Ron Moulton, says the chopper is the perfect tool for police chases like the one Wednesday night.

"We'll do about three or four of these a month," Moulton says. "Either the initial part where they're running or at the termination point where they've already bailed out."

He adds the chopper squad will probably get involved in more of these now that more officers have been re-assigned here. He says right now, with all the leaves on the trees, the suspects car sometimes disappears from sight. But, that will all change when the leaves are gone and the temperatures are cooler.

Those cooler temperatures will make it easier for the heat sensing FLIR unit to keep an eye on fleeing suspects. Sergeant Moulton showed us how the suspect's car creates it's own signature. It shows up hotter.

"See how his tires are hot, the car is hot. That's because of that exhaust coming out. It makes it real easy to identify on the infrared," Moulton says. "The other citizens' cars aren't glowing like that."

He calls this a text book pursuit. That's because the suspects are captured and no one is injured. That includes the suspects, the officers, and the citizens.

Two juveniles were caught and one escaped. One of those arrested is a 17-year-old with a history of burglary, stolen property and car theft. Police also recovered items taken in a burglary.