Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jan 2003
Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Copyright: 2003sThe Advertiser Co.
Contact:  http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088
Author: Neil Probst
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA AIRBORNE TROOPERS GO HIGH-TECH

New Nightvision Goggles And A Forward-Looking Infrared Camera Will Help In 
Efforts

Airborne Alabama state troopers on daytime search-and-destroy missions 
targeting marijuana fields are now being equipped with high-tech vision 
tools that pierce the darkness of night to seek out fugitives and missing 
people in rough terrain.

The aviation unit has been the bane of pot growers for years, and last year 
was responsible for finding 30 percent more plants than it had in any year 
since 1997, its records show. Since that year, members of the aviation unit 
have flown more than 10,000 hours searching for marijuana farms. In the 
process, they have located and destroyed more than 330,000 plants 
throughout Alabama, according to statistics provided by the state 
Department of Public Safety.

Now the unit is moving ahead with plans to heighten its efforts. It 
recently spent more than $51,000 on nightvision goggles for its six pilots. 
Each pair costs $8,600.

"With these things, we see the terrain and everything at night perfectly," 
said Kris Helton, chief pilot for the aviation unit, which is based at 
Dannelly Field.

In addition to the night vision goggles, which also make night flying safer 
for the pilots, Helton said the unit intends to acquire a second 
forward-looking infrared camera to be attached to the belly of one of its 
helicopters this year.

The thermal imaging camera helps pilots using nightvision goggles to locate 
missing people easier by pinpointing landmarks such as trees and roads. The 
camera's technology can pick up body heat and leads pilots to missing 
people or criminals on the run in the heaviest of brush or trees.

In the past month, area law enforcement agencies have called for the unit 
in locating four missing people in the state.

The troopers located two of them, one of whom was still alive.

"We've called for assistance from their helicopter many times," Montgomery 
County Sheriff D.T. Marshall said. "They've been really good over the years."

The unit has helped the Sheriff's Department locate criminal suspects and 
find stolen property such as cars, Marshall said.

Not everyone is thrilled about the unit's drug-busting success.

An administrator at an organization that is working to change laws 
regarding marijuana use said the efforts are not good for the state.

"These programs are a waste," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications 
for the Marijuana Policy Project based in Washington, D.C. "They are a 
boondoggle. They allow politicians to say they are getting tough on drugs, 
but they accomplish zero."

Mirken said the eradication flights are typical of law enforcement "welfare 
programs," that keep many people employed on projects that are never-ending.

As the aviation unit expands its high-tech arsenal, it also plans to 
broaden its reach by adding a base in Mobile in the next year. The new base 
will serve south Alabama residents quicker, Helton said, and will 
complement existing facilities in Montgomery and Decatur.

As it is, the unit patrols the skies in helicopters or small Cessna 
airplanes that are either donated by the military or confiscated from drug 
seizures.

One of the most prized possessions of the unit is a twin-engine Piper 
Navajo. The airplane landed at Dannelly Field in 1983 with more than 700 
pounds of cocaine, Helton said.

In addition, the plane had been modified to hold 200 additional gallons of 
fuel. Part of the reason for the extra fuel may have been the long trip the 
plane had made.

The turboprop was employing a navigation system that indicated the flight 
had originated in Bogota, Colombia.

The strategy employed in using the converted aircraft to spot pot fields is 
simple: Once the troopers locate the plants, they tell local law 
enforcement officials where they can find the leafy intoxicant.

"We spot it. We direct them to it," said Cliff McLeod, a six-year veteran 
of the unit and one of its six pilots.

For all the thrill and tension of searching for missing people and 
eliminating marijuana crops, there's a simpler reason why trooper pilots 
leave their patrol cars and slip into the clouds.

"Mainly it's the joy of flying. It's a promotion, really," said Michael 
Gross, whose partners McLeod, Danny Coone and John Trimble did not disagree.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens