Page 94 - May-June-July Life In Naples Magazine

The Wescam MX-10 thermal imaging system houses two cameras. A color camera used primarily during the day can read an object the size of a license plate from more than 750 feet away.The
second camera, an infrared thermal imager, can be used during the day and at night. Infrared technology permits the flight crew to see objects that may otherwise go undetected at night.

Double Vision:
CCSO’S 2 HELICOPTERS GET CAMERA UPGRADE

A n aerial video shot from a Collier County Sheriff ’s Office Gunther in that we will never know if he would have been able to make
helicopter shows deputies making their way through a heavily it safely back home on his own,” Lt. Cherney said.
wooded area in Golden Gate Estates.
The images of the deputies, viewed through the helicopter’s infrared Because the MX-10 employs a much higher quality focal plane
imaging system, are bright white and surrounded by darkness as they array within the thermal camera, Lt. Cherney said, discerning Gunther
step through overgrowth to reach a 47-year-old man with Down from the background environment made detection much more likely
syndrome who went missing after wandering from his home in the than had the agency been using the previous cameras, which were older
2600 block of Desoto Boulevard on July 14, 2014. and outdated.

Even though they couldn’t see it, the deputies in the woods were The cameras replaced two Wescam 12TS200 model cameras that
headed toward a burst of white captured on the helicopter’s camera. were about six years old. One of the cameras suffered mechanical failure
Two deputies in the helicopter guided those on the ground to the burst and the other was failing, said Cherney, noting the average lifespan for
of white – where they located Paul Charles Gunther. thermal imaging cameras is five years.

It’s just one example of CCSO successfully using the enhanced The new technology allows deputies in the sky to catch fleeing
thermal imaging cameras onboard the agency’s two helicopters to suspects and find lost persons quicker.
solve a case.
At 37 pounds and 14 inches tall, the MX-10 is lighter and smaller
The Wescam MX-10 high-definition and infrared cameras were than the 12TS200.The small size and low weight allow the ball-shaped
installed last year, marking the first major upgrade to Air1 and Air2 camera to be placed at the tip of the nose of the aircraft rather than
in about six years, said Lt. Mark Cherney, chief pilot for the CCSO under the belly, offering an unobstructed view.

Prior to the MX-10
Aviation Unit. installation, pilots were required to maneuver the skid gear out of the
picture during orbits around a target.
“The Wescam MX-10 cameras played a pivotal role in locating Mr.
The camera system provides the helicopter crew with high-definition

94 Life in Naples | May • June • July 2015